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Our Sleuths Have To Work Over the Holidays
Holiday mysteries often seem to be shorter and lighter than regular mysteries; even so I think you will enjoy this group. Take a break from your own holiday mayhem and enjoy a good read.
1. Aunt Dimity’s Christmas by Nancy Atherton – A nameless man collapses on Lori’s driveway as she prepares for the holiday. Aunt Dimity and the local Catholic priest help her solve this good solid mystery with a quiet touch of holiday spirit.
2. A Christmas Promise by Anne Perry – Here is a story that will stay with you long after you have finished reading it. Not one of her series books, it still takes place in Victorian England. Our two sleuths, in this mystery for adults, are Gracie, aged 13, and Minnie, aged 8.
3. Chanukah Guilt by Ilene Schneider –This is a great introduction to Rabbi Aviva Cohen in South Jersey.
4. Christmas Is Murder by CS Challinor – Rex Graves is a Scottish barrister in this new series. It is a very well-done “Clue” meets Agatha Christie. Can’t give away the plot, but it is another “English country house” mystery well worth the read.
5. Death of a Cozy Writer by GM Malliet – “Hard-boiled” mystery fans might think the idea of a cozy writer’s demise is long overdue! This first book in a fairly new series is a refreshing addition to the “English country house” mystery genre.
6. Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie – Lots of families play a game together over the holidays but they don’t all end with a murder. There goes Poirot’s quiet holiday.
7. A Highland Christmas by MC Beaton – Hamish Macbeth has a mystery to solve over the holidays, but this time it isn’t murder.
8. Kissing Christmas Goodbye by MC Beaton – This is considered by some to be the best in the series of Beaton’s other famous sleuth, Agatha Raisin. It’s a delightful “cozy” for the holidays.
9. The Midnight Before Christmas by William Bernhardt – This is a non-series mystery from a writer usually associated with courtroom drama thrillers. It is definitely NOT a “cozy”. It IS action from start to finish. Setting it against the holidays gives it more of a “noir” feeling than if it were set at another other time, I think.
10. Tied Up In Tinsel by Ngaio Marsh – A baffling mystery (as all mysteries should be) in the typical “English country house” genre. Inspector Alleyn’s wife has a major role in this one snowed up in an isolated country manor whose household staff contains no less than five “rehabilitated” convicted murderers.
