The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries

Edgar Award-winning editor Otto Penzler collects sixty of his all-time favorite holiday crime stories–many of which are difficult or nearly impossible to find anywhere else. From classic Victorian tales by Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Thomas Hardy, to contemporary stories by Sara Paretsky and Ed McBain, this collection touches on all aspects of the holiday season, and all types of mysteries. They are suspenseful, funny, frightening, and poignant.

Included are puzzles by Mary Higgins Clark, Isaac Asimov, and Ngaio Marsh; uncanny tales in the tradition of A Christmas Carol by Peter Lovesey and Max Allan Collins; O. Henry-like stories by Stanley Ellin and Joseph Shearing, stories by pulp icons John D. MacDonald and Damon Runyon; comic gems from Donald E. Westlake and John Mortimer; and many, many more. Almost any kind of mystery you’re in the mood for–suspense, pure detection, humor, cozy, private eye, or police procedural—can be found in these pages.
 
FEATURING:
–        Unscrupulous Santas
–        Crimes of Christmases Past and Present
–        Festive felonies
–        Deadly puddings
–        Misdemeanors under the mistletoe
–        Christmas cases for classic characters including Sherlock Holmes, Brother Cadfael, Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, Ellery Queen, Rumpole of the Bailey, Inspector Morse, Inspector Ghote, A.J. Raffles, and Nero Wolfe.

Christmas Cake Murder

With her dream of opening The Cookie Jar taking shape, Hannah’s life matches the hectic December hustle and bustle in Lake Eden—especially when she agrees to help recreate a spectacular Christmas Ball from the past in honor of Essie Granger, an elderly local in hospice care. But instead of poring over decadent dessert recipes for the merry festivities, she instantly becomes enthralled by Essie’s old notebooks and the tale of a woman escaping danger on the streets of New York. Hannah’s surprised by Essie’s secret talent for penning crime fiction. She’s even more surprised when the story turns real. As Hannah prepares to run a bakery and move out of her mother’s house, it’ll be a true miracle if she can prevent another Yuletide disaster by solving a mystery as dense as a Christmas fruitcake…

Christmas, Corpses, and Clockwork Kittens

Free

A short Christmas mystery set in the world of the Cassie Pengear Mysteries. While preparing their tinkering/ haberdashery shop for the Christmas season, Kate and Ada find a body on their doorstep. When Inspector Wainwright is sent to investigate, they start looking into the crime themselves before he can scare away all of their Christmas patrons. A short Christmas mystery of approx. 5000 words

Hercule Poirot’s Christmas

In Hercule Poirot’s Christmas, the holidays are anything but merry when a family reunion is marred by murder—and the notoriously fastidious investigator is quickly on the case.

Christmas Eve, and the Lee family’s reunion is shattered by a deafening crash of furniture and a high-pitched wailing scream. Upstairs, the tyrannical Simeon Lee lies dead in a pool of blood, his throat slashed.

When Hercule Poirot offers to assist, he finds an atmosphere not of mourning but of mutual suspicion. It seems everyone had their own reason to hate the old man. . . .

Murder for Christmas

When Mordecai Tremaine arrives at the country retreat of one Benedict Grame on Christmas Eve, he discovers that the revelries are in full swing in the sleepy village of Sherbroome―but so too are tensions amongst the assortment of guests.

When midnight strikes, the partygoers discover that presents aren’t the only things nestled under the tree…there’s a dead body too. A dead body that bears a striking resemblance to Father Christmas. With the snow falling and suspicions flying, it’s up to Mordecai to sniff out the culprit―and prevent anyone else from getting murder for Christmas.

The Christmas Letter

A cozy mystery series featuring family who are friends and friends who are family. Set in the small town of White Eagle Montana, the series features Tess and her dog Tilly, who spend their days delivering the latest gossip along with the daily mail. When a close friend is murdered they join forces with the new Veterinarian in town to sleuth out the truth behind the shocking murder that is rocking the community as it prepares for the annual Christmas Festival.

Killer Christmas

Free

After breaking up with hunky movie star Nick Doyle, superstar singer Emma Wild returns to her hometown for Christmas to get away from it all. In Hartfield, a small town in Ontario, Canada, she gets caught up in a murder case after a fan’s drink is poisoned at the Chocoholic Cafe, owned by Emma’s sister Mirabelle.

Who is the killer and was the drink originally intended for Emma? To add to the chaos, Sterling Matthews is the detective on the case. He’d shattered her heart nine years ago and inspired all her hit singles, but now they must work together to find the murderer before the murderer finds Emma.

This is the first book in the Emma Wild 4-book Holiday Series.

Rest Ye Murdered Gentlemen

As the owner of Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, Merry Wilkinson knows how to decorate homes for the holidays. That’s why she thinks her float in the semi-annual Santa Claus parade is a shoe-in for best in show. But when the tractor pulling Merry’s float is sabotaged, she has to face facts: there’s a Scrooge in Christmas Town.

Merry isn’t ready to point fingers, especially with a journalist in town writing a puff piece about Rudolph’s Christmas spirit. But when she stumbles upon the reporter’s body on a late night dog walk—and police suspect he was poisoned by a gingerbread cookie crafted by her best friend, Vicky—Merry will have to put down the jingle bells and figure out who’s really been grinching about town, before Vicky ends up on Santa’s naughty list…

Decked in the Hall

It’s Christmas in Cherrytree Downs and everyone is looking forward to the annual dinner dance at the village hall. But tragedy strikes when one of the villagers dies. Mobile librarian Penny Finch, an avid mystery reader, immediately suspects foul play.

With bumbling PC Bolton out of his depth, and Inspector Monroe new to the area, it’s up to Penny and her rescue puppy Fischer to help solve the crime. But under the surface of this idyllic English village lurk secrets and lies.

Twelve Slays of Christmas

When Holly White’s fiancé cancels their Christmas Eve wedding with less than two weeks to go, Holly heads home with a broken heart. Lucky for her, home in historic Mistletoe, Maine is magical during Christmastime—exactly what the doctor prescribed. Except her plan to drown her troubles in peppermints and snickerdoodles is upended when local grouch and president of the Mistletoe Historical Society Margaret Fenwick is bludgeoned and left in the sleigh display at Reindeer Games, Holly’s family tree farm.

When the murder weapon is revealed as one of the wooden stakes used to identify trees on the farm, Sheriff Evan Grey turns to Holly’s father, Bud, and the Reindeer Games staff. And it doesn’t help that Bud and the reindeer keeper were each seen arguing with Margaret just before her death. But Holly knows her father, and is determined to exonerate him.The jingle bells are ringing, the clock is ticking, and if Holly doesn’t watch out, she’ll end up on Santa’s naughty list in Twelve Slays of Christmas, Jacqueline Frost’s jolly series debut.

A Christmas Party

A colorful assortment of guests at a festive holiday house party discover there is a killer in their midst when their universally reviled host is found dead-in a room locked from the inside.

For Inspector Hemingway of Scotland Yard, the investigation is complicated by the fact that every guest is hiding something-throwing all their testimony into question and casting suspicion far and wide. The clever and daring crime will mystify readers, yet the answer is in plain sight all along…

The Christmas Mystery

Detective Luc Moncrief races through New York and Paris to track down a killer… and find out who is stealing the world’s greatest art.

In the heart of the holiday season, priceless paintings have vanished from a Park Avenue murder scene. Now, dashing French detective Luc Moncrief must become a quick study in the art of the steal… before a cold-blooded killer paints the town red. Merry Christmas, Detective.

Shakespeare’s Christmas

In Shakespeare’s Christmas, Lily heads home to Bartley, Arkansas–always an uncomfortable scenario for the introverted Lily­–for her sister Varena’s Christmas wedding. But Lily has more to worry about than being a bridesmaid for a sister to whom she’s no longer close. Soon after she arrives in Bartley, Lily’s private-detective boyfriend shows up too, and not just for moral support: He’s investigating a four-year-old unsolved kidnapping. Try as she might, Lily can’t help but get involved when she discovers that the case hits dangerously close to home–for Varena’s new husband is the widowed father of a girl bearing a remarkable resemblance to the vanished child.

The Twelve Days of Christmas

From a case endangering Queen Victoria to his old arch-nemesis Moriarty, follow Sherlock as he encounters the most unfathomable mysteries, all portrayed with Riccard’s trademark style and immersive historical detail. Just who did shoot Sir James Piersall at the stroke of midnight? And can Holmes and Watson prevent an assassination at Christmas Eve dinner – without knowing which of the royal guests is the intended target?