As a US-based mystery reader, it is a literal bucket list goal to visit The Mysterious Bookshop one day. (Or to live in the hopes that they decide to open West Coast branch, which seems… unlikely.) Until that happens, I can live a little vicariously through Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop.

Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop is a compendium of crime stories with an interesting origin. Every year, The Mysterious Bookshop commissions a crime story, with the requirement that at least one scene must take place in the story. These stories are printed and distributed to customers yearly; and the book compiles several of the stories for us normies to read. This compendium has been hotly anticipated, and I’ve seen it on several gift lifts for mystery lovers, so of course I had to give it a try…

Crimes, not mysteries

Mysteries can be tough to fit into short stories. The best mysteries take time to develop, and it can be easy to make them accidentally too simple, or completely unsolvable. Great mysteries include red herrings and side plots and all sorts of devices to make the puzzle just that much harder to solve. Short stories, on the other hand, work best when focusing on a specific theme. And it would seem the writers of these short stories recognize this, because for the most part they’ve produced crime stories, not mysteries.

The crime stories themselves range in tone, in method, in style, in effect. There are gang stories and howcatchems and creepy thrillers. Many of the stories end with a surprise act of violence or some other peak moment. But I think there’s only one true mystery – that is, a story that’s structured as a puzzle to solve, rather than a plot to follow. The stories are a great example of the diversity of crime fiction, and it’s fun to read through them all as see how differently the writers interpret the same prompt.

What makes a holiday story?

Just as the crime stories vary in puzzliness, they also span a range of holiday sentiment. Some simply use the holiday timing to set the season. A few go the cozy route, with a heartwarming arc focused on “goodwill to all”. Others lean into the creepier elements of the holiday season, or focus on the pain of those alone for the holidays. The diversity is fascinating – but it can also be jarring, if you’re trying to get yourself in a specific holiday mood. Because the stories are so varied, I got a little bit of “vibe whiplash” bouncing between dark thrillers, traditional mysteries, and the more heartwarming content.

A tour of holiday crime

Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop is a thoughtfully curated collection of Christmas crime stories, with something for every type of crime reader. This diversity is both a strength and weakness, depending on your reading goals: if you want to get into a specific vibe, you might be better off finding a novel. But if you’re just looking to explore a variety of holiday-ish crimes, I’d definitely recommend picking this up!

We are halfway through this year’s round of books! Tomorrow we’ll tackle a full-length novel by a new author on the scene… Til then, stay cozy, and stay curious!