A Surprise for Christmas and Other Seasonal Mysteries
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4.3 • 3 Ratings
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
"Exceptional fourth anthology of golden age Christmas-themed mysteries"—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
A Postman murdered while delivering cards on Christmas morning. A Christmas pine growing over a forgotten homicide. A Yuletide heist gone horribly wrong. When there's as much murder as magic in the air and the facts seem to point to the impossible, it's up to the detective's trained eye to unwrap the clues and neatly tie together an explanation (preferably with a bow on top).
Martin Edwards has once again gathered the best of these seasonal stories into a stellar anthology brimming with rare tales, fresh as fallen snow, and classics from the likes of Julian Symons, Margery Allingham, Anthony Gilbert and Cyril Hare. A most welcome surprise indeed, and perfect to be shared between super-sleuths by the fire on a cold winter's night.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Edwards's exceptional fourth anthology of golden age Christmas-themed mysteries (after 2018's The Christmas Card Crime and Other Stories) features tales from heavy hitters such as G.K. Chesterton and Julian Symons as well as less familiar names. Set during a housewarming gathering in Sussex, Carter Dickson's "Persons or Things Unknown" raises the question of whether sleeping in one of the rooms is safe. During the 17th century, a witness in that room saw a "man hacked to death, with thirteen stab-wounds in his body, from a hand that wasn't there and a weapon that didn't exist." This ingenious story showcases Dickson's ability at devising head-scratching impossibilities while playing totally fair with the reader. Ngaio Marsh's Scotland Yarder Roderick Alleyn must solve a Christmas murder whose victim may have been killed by his radio in "Death on the Air." And Margery Allingham has Albert Campion probe why a mailman was murdered on the holiday in "On Christmas Day in the Morning." Obscure authors such as Ernest Dudley and E.R. Punshon also impress. Edwards shows no sign of running out of quality material.
