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Classic Literature. Fiction. Mystery. Short Stories. HTML: Mystery crime fiction written in the Golden Age of Murder A Christmas party is punctuated by a gunshot under a policeman's watchful eye. A jewel heist is planned amidst the glitz and glamour of Oxford Street's Christmas shopping. Lost in a snowstorm, a man finds a motive for murder. This collection of mysteries explores the darker side of the festive season�??from unexplained disturbances in the fresh snow, to the darkness that lurks beneath the sparkling decorations. With neglected stories by John Bude and E.C.R. Lorac, as well as tales by little-known writers of crime fiction, Martin Edwards blends the cosy atmosphere of the fireside story with a chill to match the temperature outside. This is a gripping seasonal collection sure to delight mystery fans… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member thornton37814
As in most collections, some stories are better than others.
"A Christmas Tragedy" by Baroness Orczy
Although occurring at Christmas, the story is not Christmas-y. It’s a rather boring story in which Lady Molly identifies the killer of Major Ceely. Suspicion fell to his daughter’s secret
"By the Sword" by Selwyn Jepson
I didn’t like this one. I was distracted while reading it, but I didn’t like it well enough to go back and read the rest of it.
"The Christmas Card Crime" by Donald Stuart
Interesting story involving passengers on a train impeded by snow with the focus being on a girl with a partial Christmas card.
"The Motive" by Ronald Knox
Westmacott waits for Robinson to board the train. Although Robinson had not shown up, Westmacott boards after receiving a message when seems to ease his mind. Robinson boards near departure time. The two men share adjoining compartments. Robinson asks for a “wake up” call. When it is time for him to leave the train, he is not there. What happened to him?
"Blind Man’s Hood" by Carter Dickson
Rodney and Muriel Hunter arrive late at “Clearlawns,” and their hosts are out. However, a woman tells them the story of an unsolved murder that occurred years ago at the castle while they await their hosts to return from a church function.
"Paul Temple’s White Christmas" by Francis Durbridge
Kind of resembles a very short spy story. Other than the references to snow and Christmas, it could have been set any time.
"Sister Bessie or Your Old Leech" by Cyril Hare
Rather boring and not much mystery to this tale. Bessie feigns death, and Timothy rifles through her things in search of the letter before being confronted by Bessie herself. He kills Bessie but then learns a lesson.
"A Bit of Wire-Pulling" by E. C. R. Lorac
An inspector recalls an account of a man who was shot while he was in the room. The solution was obvious from the moment the inspector told his observations of that night.
"Pattern of Revenge" by John Bude
The wrong man is sent to prison for a murder. The evidence pointed to him because of his peg leg, but three years later another man confesses to the crime on his death bed.
"Crime at Lark Cottage" by John Bingham
John Bradley stops at a home near Skandale where a woman and her daughter reside. It is nearing Christmas as they are decorating the Christmas tree. The woman seems frightened. Bradley sees a wedding photo of the woman and a report of her husband’s escape from jail. As noises are heard, the woman becomes more frightened, and Bradley suggests he should go on to town.He finally gets her to confess to her part in planting evidence against her husband to protect her lover from incarceration and then reveals his Scotland Yard affiliation.
"‘Twixt the Cup and the Lip" by Julian Symons
Thieves plan a heist of Russian jewels, but it doesn’t go exactly according to their plans.
Best story: "The Christmas Card Crime" by Donald Stuart
Worst story: "By the Sword" by Selwyn Jepson
"A Christmas Tragedy" by Baroness Orczy
Although occurring at Christmas, the story is not Christmas-y. It’s a rather boring story in which Lady Molly identifies the killer of Major Ceely. Suspicion fell to his daughter’s secret
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boyfriend who maintained his innocence."By the Sword" by Selwyn Jepson
I didn’t like this one. I was distracted while reading it, but I didn’t like it well enough to go back and read the rest of it.
"The Christmas Card Crime" by Donald Stuart
Interesting story involving passengers on a train impeded by snow with the focus being on a girl with a partial Christmas card.
"The Motive" by Ronald Knox
Westmacott waits for Robinson to board the train. Although Robinson had not shown up, Westmacott boards after receiving a message when seems to ease his mind. Robinson boards near departure time. The two men share adjoining compartments. Robinson asks for a “wake up” call. When it is time for him to leave the train, he is not there. What happened to him?
"Blind Man’s Hood" by Carter Dickson
Rodney and Muriel Hunter arrive late at “Clearlawns,” and their hosts are out. However, a woman tells them the story of an unsolved murder that occurred years ago at the castle while they await their hosts to return from a church function.
"Paul Temple’s White Christmas" by Francis Durbridge
Kind of resembles a very short spy story. Other than the references to snow and Christmas, it could have been set any time.
"Sister Bessie or Your Old Leech" by Cyril Hare
Rather boring and not much mystery to this tale. Bessie feigns death, and Timothy rifles through her things in search of the letter before being confronted by Bessie herself. He kills Bessie but then learns a lesson.
"A Bit of Wire-Pulling" by E. C. R. Lorac
An inspector recalls an account of a man who was shot while he was in the room. The solution was obvious from the moment the inspector told his observations of that night.
"Pattern of Revenge" by John Bude
The wrong man is sent to prison for a murder. The evidence pointed to him because of his peg leg, but three years later another man confesses to the crime on his death bed.
"Crime at Lark Cottage" by John Bingham
John Bradley stops at a home near Skandale where a woman and her daughter reside. It is nearing Christmas as they are decorating the Christmas tree. The woman seems frightened. Bradley sees a wedding photo of the woman and a report of her husband’s escape from jail. As noises are heard, the woman becomes more frightened, and Bradley suggests he should go on to town.
"‘Twixt the Cup and the Lip" by Julian Symons
Thieves plan a heist of Russian jewels, but it doesn’t go exactly according to their plans.
Best story: "The Christmas Card Crime" by Donald Stuart
Worst story: "By the Sword" by Selwyn Jepson
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LibraryThing member lostinalibrary
When I was younger, I read a lot of mysteries from the Golden Age and before but it was mostly Christies, Sayers, Marsh, and Doyle. When I saw this anthology on Netgalley, it seemed like a good way to satisfy both my Christmas tradition of reading holiday mystery cosies while meeting some of the
Thanks to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review
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other early writers. Like in any collection, I like some stories better than others - my favourite was the title story but, overall, I enjoyed the book and I will likely seek out some of these authors later. If you are looking for an anthology of Christmas tales that provide some pretty decent mysteries while giving a glimpse into a different era, this is definitely one to consider.Thanks to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review
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LibraryThing member BrianEWilliams
This is a splendid selection of Christmas-themed murder mystery short stories. It gets off to a particularly strong start with a trio of robust seasonal murder mysteries. For example, the anthology's namesake "The Christmas Card Crime " starts like Christie's "Murder on the Orient Express "-- a
It's a collection of eleven short stories of even quality by well-regarded golden age of mystery authors. Several of them rarely wrote short stories. There's even a "ghost story" which may send shivers down a reader's spine. Others are "howdunits", where the story is about how the nasty deed was done, more than who actually did it (e.g. Lorac's "A Bit of Wire-Pulling").
This anthology shares a feature with the other British Library Crime Classics: a fine Introduction written by its editor, Martin Edwards, for the collection as a whole, which is in turn supplemented by one for each individual story. These provide interesting and helpful background on each author and their selected short story.
It's a solid collection of readable crime fiction and is a worthy potential travelling companion on a Christmas junket. The cover art is a bright winter scene that brings cheer to the season. Highly recommended by this reader.
I received an advance readers copy of this book from Poisoned Pen Press via Netgalley. The comments about it are my own.
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group of train passengers marooned in a snowstorm and left to their own devices as a murder is committed. Of course, one or more of the passengers are not who they say they are. The next story, "By the Sword" is an excellent country house mystery. A story of a daring daylight jewelry robbery by a pair of thieves disguised as Santa Claus is the end piece of the anthology.It's a collection of eleven short stories of even quality by well-regarded golden age of mystery authors. Several of them rarely wrote short stories. There's even a "ghost story" which may send shivers down a reader's spine. Others are "howdunits", where the story is about how the nasty deed was done, more than who actually did it (e.g. Lorac's "A Bit of Wire-Pulling").
This anthology shares a feature with the other British Library Crime Classics: a fine Introduction written by its editor, Martin Edwards, for the collection as a whole, which is in turn supplemented by one for each individual story. These provide interesting and helpful background on each author and their selected short story.
It's a solid collection of readable crime fiction and is a worthy potential travelling companion on a Christmas junket. The cover art is a bright winter scene that brings cheer to the season. Highly recommended by this reader.
I received an advance readers copy of this book from Poisoned Pen Press via Netgalley. The comments about it are my own.
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LibraryThing member BrokenTune
I'm sure I've tried reading this collection of short stories before but somehow couldn't get into it.
Right, now this feels like a wonderful time to listen to while pottering about doing other things...and defrosting the fridge.
The first story, The Christmas Tragedy by Baroness Orczy, seems quaint,
The rest of the stories in the collection are more appealing to me now too than last year as I have read some of the authors' other works this year, and it helps to gauge what kind of stories and styles to expect. For example, there are stories by Cyril Hare and Ronald Knox in this collection, which I now know had a completely different style from each other.
So, while sometimes short story collections are a great way to explore new authors, it seems to work the opposite way for me with this one.
Also, I am looking forward to the Paul Temple story in this one. I'm sure I've read it before, but I love revisiting a Paul Temple story. And after all, is there anyone who can tell the Paul Temple stories apart? ;P
Right, now this feels like a wonderful time to listen to while pottering about doing other things...and defrosting the fridge.
The first story, The Christmas Tragedy by Baroness Orczy, seems quaint,
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but would have been thrilling at the time, and it fits in right with the likes of Sherlock Holmes. The rest of the stories in the collection are more appealing to me now too than last year as I have read some of the authors' other works this year, and it helps to gauge what kind of stories and styles to expect. For example, there are stories by Cyril Hare and Ronald Knox in this collection, which I now know had a completely different style from each other.
So, while sometimes short story collections are a great way to explore new authors, it seems to work the opposite way for me with this one.
Also, I am looking forward to the Paul Temple story in this one. I'm sure I've read it before, but I love revisiting a Paul Temple story. And after all, is there anyone who can tell the Paul Temple stories apart? ;P
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LibraryThing member lindapanzo
I love Golden Age Mysteries and also love Christmas-themed mysteries so what could be better than this?
This is a nice collection with a good variety of Golden Age Christmas-themed mystery short stories.
(I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via Net Galley, in exchange for a fair and
This is a nice collection with a good variety of Golden Age Christmas-themed mystery short stories.
(I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via Net Galley, in exchange for a fair and
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honest review.) Show Less
LibraryThing member Vesper1931
Eleven short stories each with the theme or connection to the Christmas period. On the whole (10 of them were 4 stars) I enjoyed them all, they were well-written and a delight to read.
A NetGalley Book
A NetGalley Book
LibraryThing member eurohackie
The third British Library Crime Classics seasonal collection (after Silent Nights: Christmas Mysteries and Crimson Snow: Winter Mysteries), this collection contains 11 stories as opposed to the usual 14 or 15. This allows for longer stories that feel more complete, which was definitely a plus to
My favorites from this collection are:
[+] "By the Sword" by Selwyn Jepson (1930)
[+] the titular story "The Christmas Card Crime" by Donald Stewart (1934)
[+] "A Bit of Wire-Pulling" by ECR Lorac (1950)
[+] "'Twixt the Cup and the Lip" by Julian Symons (1965)
Interestingly, only two of the included stories in this collection contain series characters. Of those two, only one was hard for me to get into (the Paul Temple short), because it's basically a vignette and we're dropped into the middle of the character's life. If you have no familiarity with said character (as I didn't) it's a little confusing.
All in all, these holiday collections have gotten better and better with each passing year. I'm looking forward to the next!
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me. Not all of the stories included are super long; there are a couple of less than 10 pagers from authors who don't normally use the short form, like ECR Lorac and John Bude, so there's some variety.My favorites from this collection are:
[+] "By the Sword" by Selwyn Jepson (1930)
[+] the titular story "The Christmas Card Crime" by Donald Stewart (1934)
[+] "A Bit of Wire-Pulling" by ECR Lorac (1950)
[+] "'Twixt the Cup and the Lip" by Julian Symons (1965)
Interestingly, only two of the included stories in this collection contain series characters. Of those two, only one was hard for me to get into (the Paul Temple short), because it's basically a vignette and we're dropped into the middle of the character's life. If you have no familiarity with said character (as I didn't) it's a little confusing.
All in all, these holiday collections have gotten better and better with each passing year. I'm looking forward to the next!
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