Tag: Christmas short story

Crimes for Christmas

Edited by Otto Penzler, Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop: Twelve Tales of Seasonal Suspense Set in the World’s Oldest Mystery Specialty Store offers readers a grand collection of holiday murder and mystery short stories by noteworthy, award-winning and international bestselling authors, including Jason Starr, Lyndsay Faye, Loren Estleman, Ace Atkins, Rob Hart, Laura Lippman, Jeffery Deaver, David Gordon and Martin Edwards.

Some of these Christmas tales are treasures that take you back to the golden era of crime fiction. My favorite is A Christmas Puzzle by acclaimed Icelandic author Ragnar Jónasson. I felt as if I had discovered a lost manuscript of Christie or Marsh. The pacing, the subtle clues, the climax…perfection!

Aficionado of misdirection and the locked room mystery, UK author Tom Mead offers readers a fun holiday twist on an old theme in Hester’s Gift. Though other reviewers may give more details in an overview about the story, I don’t want to lay out any clues before your eyes reach the actual page.

Each of the stories has a different feel to it. In fact, Laura Lippman’s ironic tale, Snowflake Time, seems like it could be ripped from the headlines.

I own several of Penzler’s previous collections and enjoy pulling them out each year. This one is no exception. I highly recommend Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop.

While I received an advance reader’s copy from The Mysterious Press, courtesy of NetGalley, I’ve already purchased a digital version so that I can re-read these wonderful stories. Order online or buy now at your favorite independent bookstore. Mine is Sellers Books and Art in Jim Thorpe, PA.

Review by Di Prokop
More Mystery Please

*If you enjoy holiday mysteries as much as I do, be sure to check out the Second Annual More Mystery Please Santa Advent calendar, beginning December 1.

Five stars on top of Five Christmas trees

Five stars on top of five Christmas trees is what I rate Leslie Budewitz’ short story, The Christmas Stranger.

With so much to do this time of year, the holidays are the perfect time for reading short stories. I’m so glad The Christmas Stranger is my first of the season.

Inspired by a kind encounter of her own, Budewitz sets this story in Jewel Bay, Montana, home to her Food Lovers’ Village Mystery series and Erin Murphy, whose family has run the Merc, short for mercantile, for more than a century.

Holidays are a busy juggle for us all, managing a retail business during the holidays requires even more skill to keep all of those balls in the air. But when Erin is multitasking, checking on deliveries, while waiting to check out at the post office, she steps out of line to help an older gentleman, a stranger, and helps him figure out the hoops needed to jump through to get an old-fangled copy machine to work. In thanks for her kindness and her offer to pay for his copies so he doesn’t need to wait in line, he gives her a small square of paper and a heartwarming mystery all in one.

I highly recommend A Christmas Stranger for all Leslie Budewitz Food Lovers’ Mystery fans, as well as all lovers of cozy mysteries and holiday short stories. Please note, this short story originally appeared in Carried to the Grave and Other Stories, and is being released as a standalone in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the series. I received this advance reader copy from Beyond the Page Publishing, courtesy NetGalley.

Order online or buy now at your favorite independent bookstore. Mine is Sellers Books and Art in Jim Thorpe, PA.

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