As we move into the final days before Christmas, here are a dozen mysteries that feature
Christmas-themed stories. The list includes a selection of sleuths old and new, ranging
from Constable Hamish Macbeth, caterer Goldy Schulz, and senior sleuth Jessica Fletcher, to
classic holiday outings with Nero Wolfe, Ellery Queen,
and Hercule Poirot.
What are your favorite seasonal mystery and crime fiction titles? Let us
know! Post your own favorites in the comments below!
01. A Highland Christmas (Hamish Macbeth Mysteries, No. 16)
by
M. C. Beaton (Mysterious Press)
In the dark, wintry highlands of Lochdubh, Scotland, where the local Calvinist element resists the secular trimmings of Christmas, the spirit of Old St. Nick is about as welcome as a flat tire on a deserted road. Nor is crime taking a holiday, as
Constable Hamish Macbeth soon finds himself protecting an unhappy girl, unlocking the secrets of a frightened old woman, and retrieving some stolen holiday goods. Now the lanky lawman must use all his Highland charm and detective skills to make things right. And he had better do it quickly, for the church bells will soon toll and all of Lochdubh will be forced to face another dreary winter without the comforting embrace of Yuletide cheer.
02. Hercule Poirot's Christmas: A Holiday Mystery
by
Agatha Christie (Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers)
The wealthy Simeon Lee demands all four of his sons and their wives
return home for Christmas. But a heartwarming family holiday is not what
he has in mind -- he announces he's cutting off their allowances and
changing his will. So, when the old man is found lying in a pool of
blood on Christmas Eve, the great
Hercule Poirot finds no lack of suspects. But how did the murderer escape from the locked room?
03. Iced (Regan Reilly Mysteries, No. 3)
by
Carol Higgins Clark (Grand Central Publishing)
It's Christmas in Aspen and P.I.
Regan Reilly
is vacationing with her parents and hoping to meet an unmarried man.
But all thoughts of romance turn to sleuthing when million-dollar
paintings start disappearing, along with an old friend of Regan's -- who
happens to be an ex-con. The snow is falling, the plot is thickening,
and the danger is closing in on Regan ...
04. Tough Cookie (Goldy Culinary Mysteries, Book 9)
by
Diane Mott Davidson (Bantam)
When caterer
Goldy Schulz is offered a temporary stint hosting a cooking show for PBS before the Christmas holidays, she jumps at the chance. After all, she could use the money—not to mention the great exposure. Plus taping the shows at Colorado's posh Killdeer Ski Resort will be fun. A little cooking, a little chitchat. What could go wrong? The answer: everything! When Goldy has to do one of her shows live for a PBS telethon, the broadcast is riddled with culinary catastrophes—from the Chesapeake Crab Cakes right down to the Ice-Capped Gingersnaps. But the deadliest dish of all comes after the cameras go off—and a baffling accident claims a life. Then a series of suspicious mishaps places Goldy's own life in jeopardy, and she knows she'd better whip up her own crime-solving recipe, and fast—before a deadly dash of danger ends her cooking career once and for all....
05. Between the Plums (Stephanie Plum)
by
Janet Evanovich (St. Martin's Press)
This brand-new 3-in-1 holiday collection includes
Visions of Sugar Plums: Five days before Christmas, things are not looking merry for
Stephanie Plum.
She hasn’t got a tree. She hasn’t bought any presents. The malls are
jam-packed with staggering shoppers. There's not a twinkle of light
anywhere to be seen in her apartment ... and there’s a strange man in
her kitchen. (The collection also includes
Plum Lovin' and
Plum Lucky.)
06. Murder Never Takes a Holiday (Murder She Wrote)
by
Jessica Fletcher and
Donald Bain (Signet)
Although her TV show ended years ago, amateur sleuth
Jessica Fletcher
continues to solve murders in a series of original novels. (More than
three million copies in print!) This brand-new two-in-one collection
includes a nifty pair of seasonal whodunits: In
Manhattans & Murder,
Jessica's new book tour brings her to New York for Christmas, where she
sees notorious Cabot Cove crook Waldo Morse dressed as a sidewalk Santa
-- and ends up witnessing a murder. In
A Little Yuletide Murder,
Santa is found murdered shortly before Christmas. Actually, it's farmer
Rory Brent, who's played St. Nick at Cabot Cove's annual holiday event
for years. Everyone assumes the culprit is Brent's longtime enemy, Jake
Walther, the meanest man in town. But Jessica thinks otherwise, and
she's determined to deliver the real killer before Christmas ...
07. The Thin Man
by
Dashiell Hammett (Vintage)
Nick and Nora Charles
-- he's an ex-private eye, she's the heiress who made him respectable
-- are lounging in their suite in New York City for the Christmas
holiday. When a friend asks Nick to help find a killer, and reintroduces
him to one of his old cases, soon Nick and Nora their faithful
schnauzer Asta are drawn into a maelstrom of suspicious gangters,
trigger-happy hoodlums, and overeager coppers. It's a holiday to
remember!
08. A Rumpole Christmas: Stories
by
John Mortimer (Viking)
For fans lamenting the death of mystery writer
Sir John Mortimer this year, here's a welcome present: The first-ever collection of Christmas stories starring English barrister
Horace Rumpole,
with five stories never before published in book form. In “Rumpole and
Father Christmas,” the Old Bailey Hack encounters a familiar-looking
Santa who he thinks is a thief. In “Rumpole’s Slimmed Down Christmas,”
he goes to a spa when “She who must be obeyed” insists he lose a few
pounds. In “Rumpole and the Christmas Break,” he protects Hilda as a
shady judge flirts with her while on a holiday that turns out to be
anything but relaxing. In “Rumpole of the Bailey’s Christmas Party,”
Rumpole celebrates the holiday with Old Bailey colleagues and Hilda
surprises him with an unexpected gift. And in “Rumpole and the Old
Familiar Faces,” he uses a former client’s seedy past to aid a church in
the name of Christmas spirit.
09. A Fatal Grace: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel)
by
Louise Penny (Minotaur Books)
CC de Poitiers managed to alienate everyone in the hamlet of Three Pines, right up to the moment she died. When
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache begins his investigation, it seems like an impossible murder: CC was electrocuted on a frozen lake, in front of the entire town, during the Christmas curling tournament. With compassion and courage, Gamache digs beneath the idyllic surface of village life to find long buried secrets, while his own enemies threaten to bring something even more chilling than the bitter winter winds to Three Pines.
10. Calamity Town
by
Ellery Queen (Mysterious Press)
In the small town of Wrightsville,
Ellery Queen
has rented a house under an assumed name. He's hoping for some some
peace and quiet so he can write a book. At first, the town seems ideal–the neighbors are friendly, and there's little crime to distract him
from his writing. Until the tranquility is broken by a series of
arsenic poisonings during the holidays ...
11. And Four to Go (Nero Wolfe Mysteries)
by
Rex Stout (Crimeline)
This collection of four stories starring
Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin
includes the entry "Christmas Party": Archie tells Nero he'll be
announcing his engagement at a Christmas party -- but is shocked when
his fiancee announces she's actually marrying their host. Things go from
bad to worse when Archie's rival is soon lying on the floor dead ...
(The collection also includes "Easter Parade," "Fourth of July Picnic,"
and "Murder Is No Joke.")
12. Murder for Christmas: 26 Tales of Yuletide Malice
by various, edited by
Thomas Godfrey (Castle Books)
Sometimes the holidays bring out the worst in people -- as these 26
tales of "seasonal malice" demonstrate. Includes a wide selection of
legendary authors, including Margery Allingham, G.K. Chesterton, Agatha
Christie, Carter Dickson, Charles Dickens, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,
Edward D. Hoch, Ellery Queen, Dorothy L. Sayers, Georges Simonen, Rex
Stout, and more! With illustrations by Gahan Wilson.
More lists of Christmas crime fiction:
10 Free Christmas Crime Stories: Sherlock Holmes, Father Brown, and more!
Holiday Mystery Book Lists (Cozy Mystery List)
Crime for the Holidays: Christmas Mysteries, Authors A-D (Mystery Fanfare)
Christmas Mysteries, Authors E-H (Mystery Fanfare)
Christmas Mysteries, Authors I-N (Mystery Fanfare)
Christmas Crime Fiction, Mystery Authors O-R (Mystery Fanfare)
Christmas Mysteries, Crime Fiction Authors, S-Z (Mystery Fanfare)
Death of a Hussy (Hamish Macbeth Mysteries, No. 5)
