A Surprise for Christmas and Other Seasonal Mysteries by Martin Edwards

A Surprise for Christmas and Other Seasonal Mysteries
by Martin Edwards

ISBN-13: 9781464214813
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Released: October 12th 2021

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description from Goodreads:
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.


My Review:
A Surprise for Christmas and Other Seasonal Mysteries is a collection of Christmas-themed, short story mysteries that were first published between 1933 and 1963. Many of the stories were clued-based puzzles where the detective gathered clues and gave the solution. A few were from the murderer's viewpoint, so we're told how they did it and see how they're discovered. And, of course, there were some stories where we're told the action as it happened but they weren't puzzles for the reader to solve. I've read a couple of these mysteries before, but I enjoyed all of them. There was no sex. There was some bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting collection of short story mysteries.

The stories include:
The Black Bag Left on a Doorstep by Caharie Louisa Pirkis
The Hole in the Wall by G. K. Chesterton
Death on the Air by Ngaio Marsh
Persons or Things Unknown by Carter Dickson
Dead Man's Hand by E. R. Punshon
The Christmas Eve Ghost By Ernest Dudley
Dick Whittington's Cat By Victor Canning
A Surprise for Christmas by Cyril Hare
On Christmas Day in the Morning by Margery Allingham
Give Me a Ring by Anthony Gilbert
Father Christmas Comes to Orbins by Julian Symons
The Turn-Again Bell by Barry Perowne


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.