Merry Christmas, my reading friends! I hope you have enjoyed this year’s Advent of Mystery at least as much as I have. I’ve certainly learned a ton about what it takes to manage a Christmas mystery story that still feels festive.

As usual, we’ll keep it quick – starting with a roundup of all the Christmas crime we went through. And then – I’ve got some Thoughts on why and how series are perhaps the best placed to land the festive mystery.

Short, sweet, and mysterious…

Before we get into those reflections, here’s a quick roundup of all that we read this year:

1. Everyone This Christmas Has A Secret by Benjamin Stevenson
2. The Frank Grabsy mysteries by Denzil Meyrick
3. The Mistletoe Mystery by Nita Prose
4. The Case of the Ghost of Christmas Morning by P.J. Fitzsimmons
5. Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop, ed. Otto Penzler
6. The Christmas Eve Murders by Noelle Albright
7. Murder Under the Mistletoe by the Reverend Richard Coles
8. Death Comes at Christmas, ed. Marie O’Regan and Paul Kane
9. Murder at the Christmas Emporium by Andreina Cordani
10. A Lively Midwinter Murder by Katy Watson

Here is a quick chart showing how each rated on mystery and festivity:

A theory of Christmas mysteries

…and here is the same chart with all the writing involving pre-existing characters and series (i.e. writing that acted as an extension of a world) in color, and the rest greyed out.

(And for completeness, here’s the same chart for last year’s reads.)

There is a clear link here between continuing a series and landing the celebratory spirit. Most of the standalones I’ve read over the last two years seem to veer towards the darker side of the scale, while series tend to feel more celebratory.

My best explanation is a structural one.

1. A good mystery is generally complex, and takes quite a bit of writing to establish potential suspects and their motives
2. For characters to be good suspects, they must be suspicious, which makes them less likely to elicit warm fuzzies from a reader
3. However, a book full of only suspicious characters tends to read as dark, particularly when set in the holiday season
4. Therefore, the mystery must rely on its protagonists to create the warm feelings required for the festive / celebratory vibe
5. It is much easier to do this when a reader is already invested in the protagonists, meaning stories that extend a series or expand a known world are more likely to successfully hit that “festive” vibe

This year has also solidified for me a theory around the length of Christmas crime stories, which goes something like this:

1. The best mysteries require character development and intricate plotting
2. Therefore, they are best served by a full-length novel; short stories are more likely to take the “crime / thriller” route
3. This effect is amplified with standalone stories, which have to establish even more in the same space
4. Short stories in a series, however, may more successfully rely on their protagonists’ trope to move an investigation forward

So, in the end, I think this is how the forces work out:

Perhaps this is obvious, in retrospect. But for someone who just spent three years and 30+ books exploring the Christmas mystery, it feels so satisfying to have a clear method of predicting what will give me that festive feeling. It’s not that I can’t take any darkness at Christmas – but half a dozen stories of characters who, frankly, hate each other is a bit too much for me. It’s nice to know what you’re getting into, before you get into it, so you can set your tone – festive or consolatory or thrilling, as your mood may be.

A cozy Christmas to you and yours

At this point, I may have spent entirely too many words dissecting exactly what it takes to write a Christmas crime story of all different varieties. If you’ve made it this far, I am glad to have an equally nerdy friend of the blog with me to the end! I hope your holiday season is going swimmingly, with festive crime stories keeping themselves between the pages. And I’m hoping your home is full of laughter and joy (and tea and snacks!) as we close out 2024. I’m grateful to have such a wonderful community to read and think with.

Coming soon will be a broader reflection on this year in reading… Until next time, stay cozy, and stay curious!