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chrissie57's review against another edition
2.0
This is the third of the Cecily Gayford edited collections of Christmas crime stories I have read and, fo some reason I found it the most disappointing. Possibly having as close a remit as crimes committed on one particular day is too limiting but I found the ten stories presented here lacklustre at best. It starts with the ubiquitous Trinity Cat by Ellis Peters and ends with the unlikely and uninteresting On Christmas Day in the Morning by Margery Allingham, taking in one of the most boring Father Brown stories ever (so boring I could not remember reading it before, although I must have done) and a cliche ridden effort from a writer called Marjorie Bowen, Cambric Tea.
My favourite story was by Val McDermid A Wife in a Millionbut I have read it several times before and it gains nothing from a Christmas setting - in fact, Christmas doesn't really figure in the story at all and I was a bit lost as to why it was included in a Christmas Eve collection since the day itself is not mentioned at all.
My favourite story was by Val McDermid A Wife in a Millionbut I have read it several times before and it gains nothing from a Christmas setting - in fact, Christmas doesn't really figure in the story at all and I was a bit lost as to why it was included in a Christmas Eve collection since the day itself is not mentioned at all.
dunder_mifflin's review against another edition
3.0
it took me a while to read these because i tend to forget about short story collections -- it's hard to keep reading them one after the other which is what i tried to do at christmas, then recently i found the book, realised i only had three stories left and thought i might as well finish it (which i did today).
i gave it three stars because while i really enjoyed some of the stories, some of them weren't that enjoyable for me so on average it's around 3 stars.
i gave it three stars because while i really enjoyed some of the stories, some of them weren't that enjoyable for me so on average it's around 3 stars.
annemariep68's review against another edition
3.0
This is a compilation so there’s better and less enjoyable stories but it fit well into my Christmas cozy mystery tradition…and there’s even a Father Brown!
berlinbibliophile's review against another edition
3.0
This is a book of mystery short stories set around Christmas, and like with any collection, the stories are of extremely variable quality. Some of them I really liked, like Ian Rankin's and Val McDermid's. Others were a sexist mess, like the first story in the collection, which comments on the murder victim's virginity and denigrates the murderer by calling her a stupid harpy drenched in cheap perfume. I guess if there's no substance to the story and no real motive for the murder, insults are the only way to go. Still, despite these missteps, overall I enjoyed this collection of christmas-themed mysteries.
gnomescottage's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Sexism
mike_brough's review against another edition
4.0
A good collection of Christmas-related mysteries, mostly of the old school although the Rankin and McDermid stories are from the present-day. I'd read a couple of these before in The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries but they were no worse for the re-visiting.
The pick of the, for Christmas spirit at least, are Ian Rankin's Rebus short story and Chesterton's Father Brown, although Block's Nero Wolfe pastiche is entertaining too.
Well worth a read, especially if you like Christmas to be a little darker than most do.
The pick of the, for Christmas spirit at least, are Ian Rankin's Rebus short story and Chesterton's Father Brown, although Block's Nero Wolfe pastiche is entertaining too.
Well worth a read, especially if you like Christmas to be a little darker than most do.