Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Collection
Publication
Mysterious Press (1992), Mass Market Paperback, 272 pages
Description
Fiction. Literature. Mystery. Short Stories. HTML: When the weather outside is frightful, curl up with New York Times�??bestselling masters of holiday mystery Elizabeth Peters, Margaret Maron, and more! A New England college hosts a counterfeiting scrooge, an angelic chorister falls to earth, a tight-fisted patriarch realizes his days are numbered, and a politician presents his wife with an explosive gift. In Christmas Stalkings, bestselling mystery author Charlotte MacLeod gathers fellow partners in crime for a collection of capers that will keep you reading�??and guessing�??all through the night. Spend the twelve days of Christmas enjoying tales of holiday mayhem. From secrets in a snowy graveyard to schemes in the Deep South to mischief in Manhattan, this stocking full of cozy stories is to die for. This festive anthology includes thirteen stories by Charlotte MacLeod, Reginald Hill, Elizabeth Peters, Medora Sale, John Malcolm, Dorothy Cannell, Bill Crider, Patricia Moyes, Evelyn E. Smith, Eric Wright, Mickey Friedman, Robert Barnard, and Margaret Maron.… (more)
Media reviews
Continuing in the tradition of her 1989 collection, Mistletoe Mysteries, MacLeod and 12 others offer 13 Christmas-themed stories of, mostly, the ``Bah, humbug!'' variety.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Darla
A mystery short-story anthology. Some of the stories were better than others, but thank goodness, they were all readable mystery stories--not those weird navel-gazing symbolic ones you can only really get into if you're a drunk, high, sleep-deprived college student (er... not that I'd know anything
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about that). I bought the book for the Evelyn E. Smith story about Mrs. Melville. Her middle-aged female assassin was such fun. I'd so woed that she only wrote 4 books and the short story in this anthology about her. Show Less
LibraryThing member MrsLee
A compilation of short mystery stories with a theme of Christmas, compiled by Charlotte MacLeod.
I had never read most of the authors in this book, and I'll be honest, with the exception of one, I doubt I'll ever read any of them again. The stories were O.K. They didn't thrill, mystify or enchant.
I had never read most of the authors in this book, and I'll be honest, with the exception of one, I doubt I'll ever read any of them again. The stories were O.K. They didn't thrill, mystify or enchant.
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My favorite in the book, which I intend to look for more of, was Margaret Maron. Show Less
LibraryThing member JalenV
All 13 stories are original to this anthology. Seven of them are about mystery series characters, so if you love that series, you'll want this book. My favorite story is "Counterfeit Christmas," in which Peter Shandy is confronted by another mystery at Balaclava Agricultural College's Grand
It's three stars for the Joe Sixsmith story, "The Running of the Deer" by Reginald Hill. I like Joe and his cat, Whitey. I liked the author's descriptions, such as Joe thinking that Skellbreak Hall looked like a Hammer Films sort of place. It just doesn't make me want to check our local library's online catalog to see if they have more of Joe's adventures.
That's pretty much the way I feel about the other series stories, except for Ellie Haskell, which I've been collecting for years, and the Deborah Knott, which sounds interesting.
The other five-star story for me is "Liz Peters, PI" by Elizabeth Peters. I laughed aloud at this parody of "mean streets" mysteries, especially at the way Liz' six cats protected her from her nemesis. (Invoking "Saint Kinsey" as the patron saint of private eyes was another good one.)
The John Sanders & Harriet Jeffries story, "Angels" by Medora Sale was more fun when two teachers in charge of their school's annual Christmas festival of carols were having to cope with potential disaster than when the police were having to investigate a murder, although there were still some touches that made me smile in the latter part.
"The Only True Unraveller" by John Malcolm interested me with the biographical tidbits about Arthur Sullivan of Gilbert & Sullivan and his beloved Fanny Ronalds. I wish I could have seen a photo of her in her illuminated harp-shaped crown. At least her Wikipedia entry has a photo of the very gravestone mentioned in the story. Fans of unnerving cemetary chases should enjoy this one.
Ellie Haskell was probably still Ellie Simons in "The January Sale Stowaway" by Dorothy Cannell since there's no mention of Ben. Ellie's Cousin Hilda is telling her about the one dark secret of her life. Although this story was written years before impatient bargain hunters trampled a Long Island Walmart employee to death on Black Friday in 2008 and a woman used pepper spray on 20 other Black Friday shoppers in 2011; Hilda's description of the January sale behavior at Bossom's Departmental Store is bad enough. I can hardly blame her for the means she took to try to avoid the crowd. As one might expect in a Dorothy Cannell mystery, things do not turn out as Hilda planned, but an amusing time is had.
The Professor Carl Burns story, "The Santa Claus Caper," by Bill Crider, is also amusing -- in a wince while you chuckle way. (Mr. Crider was kind enough to confirm that his Pecan City is fictional and in no way related to the real-life Pecan City, Texas that was apparently defunct by 1936.)
"Family Christmas" by Patricia Moyes is a cautionary tale. It was written well enough, but it left me a little sad.
Evelyn E. Smith's "Miss Melville Rejoices" did not satisfy because I wouldn't have minded two deaths for the price of one story. I can't fault Miss Melville's planning, though.
"Two in the Bush" by Eric Wright boasts no actual murder, but the planning and carrying out of the caper was fun.
"The Fabulous Nick" by Mickey Friedman is a nice story and the only one in the book to feature Santa Claus himself. Nick makes a pretty good amateur sleuth.
"A Political Neccessity" by Robert Barnard is not a nice story at all, but the end helps.
Margaret Maron's "Fruitcake, Mercy, and Black-Eyed Peas'" is the Deborah Knott story, written before the first Knott novel came out. It's both sad and heart-warming. Ms. Maron has kindly explained that although Deborah Knott's first appearance in print was "Deborah's Judgment" in A Woman's Eye, edited by Sarah Paretsky; the action in "Fruitcake, Mercy, and Black-Eyed Peas'" probably came first because Deborah was not yet running for judge, which she was doing in "Deborah's Judgment". Speaking of fruitcake, I wouldn't mind tasting Deborah's Aunt Zell's even though I own a 'NO FRUITCAKE' button.
For fellow Peter Shandy fans who don't want to rack their brains trying to figure out in which mystery a Shandy & company fact appears: Peter played a cornet in his high school band, Dr. Porble writes down the Dewey Decimal Code for what he's thinking that he won't tell you & then scratches it out, Porble has a sneaky smile, Thorkjeld Svensen has already celebrated the 25th anniversary of becoming Balaclava's president, Shirley Wrenne took his photo for the celebration program, and Miss Viola Harp has been doing the calligraphy for the college diplomas for 27 years as well as being the artist who drew the picture of the administration building for the college stationery.
I recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of any of the series represented. If you aren't, you still might find these stories a pleasant way to spend some time.
Mark Hess is the artist for the cover with the four stockings hanging from a fireplace mantel. A noose is hanging in the middle.
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Illumination. It's a sweet tale and I'm glad that Peter & Helen's cat, Jane Austen, has a good role in it. I rate that one five stars. It's three stars for the Joe Sixsmith story, "The Running of the Deer" by Reginald Hill. I like Joe and his cat, Whitey. I liked the author's descriptions, such as Joe thinking that Skellbreak Hall looked like a Hammer Films sort of place. It just doesn't make me want to check our local library's online catalog to see if they have more of Joe's adventures.
That's pretty much the way I feel about the other series stories, except for Ellie Haskell, which I've been collecting for years, and the Deborah Knott, which sounds interesting.
The other five-star story for me is "Liz Peters, PI" by Elizabeth Peters. I laughed aloud at this parody of "mean streets" mysteries, especially at the way Liz' six cats protected her from her nemesis. (Invoking "Saint Kinsey" as the patron saint of private eyes was another good one.)
The John Sanders & Harriet Jeffries story, "Angels" by Medora Sale was more fun when two teachers in charge of their school's annual Christmas festival of carols were having to cope with potential disaster than when the police were having to investigate a murder, although there were still some touches that made me smile in the latter part.
"The Only True Unraveller" by John Malcolm interested me with the biographical tidbits about Arthur Sullivan of Gilbert & Sullivan and his beloved Fanny Ronalds. I wish I could have seen a photo of her in her illuminated harp-shaped crown. At least her Wikipedia entry has a photo of the very gravestone mentioned in the story. Fans of unnerving cemetary chases should enjoy this one.
Ellie Haskell was probably still Ellie Simons in "The January Sale Stowaway" by Dorothy Cannell since there's no mention of Ben. Ellie's Cousin Hilda is telling her about the one dark secret of her life. Although this story was written years before impatient bargain hunters trampled a Long Island Walmart employee to death on Black Friday in 2008 and a woman used pepper spray on 20 other Black Friday shoppers in 2011; Hilda's description of the January sale behavior at Bossom's Departmental Store is bad enough. I can hardly blame her for the means she took to try to avoid the crowd. As one might expect in a Dorothy Cannell mystery, things do not turn out as Hilda planned, but an amusing time is had.
The Professor Carl Burns story, "The Santa Claus Caper," by Bill Crider, is also amusing -- in a wince while you chuckle way. (Mr. Crider was kind enough to confirm that his Pecan City is fictional and in no way related to the real-life Pecan City, Texas that was apparently defunct by 1936.)
"Family Christmas" by Patricia Moyes is a cautionary tale. It was written well enough, but it left me a little sad.
Evelyn E. Smith's "Miss Melville Rejoices" did not satisfy because I wouldn't have minded two deaths for the price of one story. I can't fault Miss Melville's planning, though.
"Two in the Bush" by Eric Wright boasts no actual murder, but the planning and carrying out of the caper was fun.
"The Fabulous Nick" by Mickey Friedman is a nice story and the only one in the book to feature Santa Claus himself. Nick makes a pretty good amateur sleuth.
"A Political Neccessity" by Robert Barnard is not a nice story at all, but the end helps.
Margaret Maron's "Fruitcake, Mercy, and Black-Eyed Peas'" is the Deborah Knott story, written before the first Knott novel came out. It's both sad and heart-warming. Ms. Maron has kindly explained that although Deborah Knott's first appearance in print was "Deborah's Judgment" in A Woman's Eye, edited by Sarah Paretsky; the action in "Fruitcake, Mercy, and Black-Eyed Peas'" probably came first because Deborah was not yet running for judge, which she was doing in "Deborah's Judgment". Speaking of fruitcake, I wouldn't mind tasting Deborah's Aunt Zell's even though I own a 'NO FRUITCAKE' button.
For fellow Peter Shandy fans who don't want to rack their brains trying to figure out in which mystery a Shandy & company fact appears: Peter played a cornet in his high school band, Dr. Porble writes down the Dewey Decimal Code for what he's thinking that he won't tell you & then scratches it out, Porble has a sneaky smile, Thorkjeld Svensen has already celebrated the 25th anniversary of becoming Balaclava's president, Shirley Wrenne took his photo for the celebration program, and Miss Viola Harp has been doing the calligraphy for the college diplomas for 27 years as well as being the artist who drew the picture of the administration building for the college stationery.
I recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of any of the series represented. If you aren't, you still might find these stories a pleasant way to spend some time.
Mark Hess is the artist for the cover with the four stockings hanging from a fireplace mantel. A noose is hanging in the middle.
Show Less
LibraryThing member ChrisWeir
A collection of short mystery stories with a Christmas theme running through each. Some of them I didn't care for at all and others I questions as to why they were in the book.
LibraryThing member SumisBooks
Warning: Biased opinion here. I don't like crime novels and I really don't like reading British-type novels that are supposed to be scary or suspenseful because they turn out to be neither for me. Way to much propriety and beating around the bush for me. This book was in my TBR pile as a gift & I
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thought I'd give it a whirl. I did not like it at all but I feel that others who enjoy detective/crime novels might. Show Less
LibraryThing member jamespurcell
Old-timey stories, mostly good with some a touch above; those by MacLeod, Crider and for Maron an introduction to Deb'rah.
LibraryThing member Maydacat
Some of your favorite mystery writers are likely to be found in this collection of short stories. The villains may be the next door neighbor, or even someone living much closer, like a spouse. Horrors! And sometimes, turnabout is fair play. Whatever the season, these tales are perfect for a fast
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read in the evening, and may even elicit a chuckle when the evil person gets his or maybe even hers. Show Less
Awards
Anthony Award (Nominee — 1992)
Language
Original publication date
1991
Physical description
272 p.; 4.13 inches
ISBN
0446403032 / 9780446403030
DDC/MDS
| Fic Mystery MacLeod |