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Advent of Mystery, Day 8: Death Comes at Christmas
Continuing the theme of short and sweet, next on our list is Death Comes at Christmas. This collection of short stories aggregates new writing by some of the most exciting modern crime writers. The promise is a compendium of Christmas crime stories that explores the spirit of the season, while providing intriguing puzzles from today’s…
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Advent of Mystery 2024, Day 5: Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop
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…
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Advent of Mystery 2024, Day 3: The Mistletoe Mystery
For day 3 we’ve got a short and sweet novella that continues the Maid series by Nita Prose. The Mistletoe Mystery catches us up with Molly the maid and her cinnamon roll boyfriend Juan as they celebrate the holidays together. This one is really tiny, clocking in at just 128 pages. (I’ve also seen a…
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Advent of Mystery 2024, Day 2: Murder at Holly House and The Christmas Stocking Murders
Next up is a double feature with a bit of an epistolary twist: Denzil Meyrick’s Inspector Frank Grasby series. This first came on my radar last year with Murder at Holly House, as an epistolary mystery potentially worth reading. This year, Meyrick expanded the series with The Christmas Stocking Murders, which follows up with Grasby…
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Advent of Mystery 2024, Day 1: Everyone this Christmas Has a Secret
Every year, I tell myself that this is my last year with the Advent of Mystery. And every year, new Christmas mysteries pop up on my radar that I feel I have to read. And if I’m already reading them, why not share my thoughts with y’all? Two years ago, we did Golden Age murder…
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Advent of Mystery, Day 10: The Twelve Days of Murder
We’re nearing the home stretch, and that takes us towards some of the more unique Christmas stories I’ve read this year. Today we’ll be discussing The Twelve Days of Murder by Andreina Cordani. This mystery / thriller has serious Dark Academia vibes, telling the story of a college murder mystery club that fell apart when…
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Advent of Mystery, Day 9: Murder at Maybridge Castle
Last up in Ada Moncrieff’s Christmas Mysteries is Murder at Maybridge Castle*. We’re sticking with Daphne as our protagonist – but this time, she’s supporting her family member, Charles, as he soft-opens a new hotel at the titular Maybridge Castle. Plus, local legends (and Charles) say the hotel is haunted! It all adds up to…
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Advent of Mystery, Day 8: Murder at the Theatre Royale
We’re continuing the Ada Moncrieff read-through with the nect of her Christmas mysteries, Murder at the Theatre Royale. We’ve moved on from Hugh to a new protagonist (and a surprisingly popular type). Daphne is an agony aunt for a London newspaper who longs for a “real” beat. She talks her way into covering a new…
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Advent of Mystery, Day 4: The Christmas Jigsaw Murders
We’re almost through the thriller phase of this Advent of Mystery – we just need to cover the first Alexandra Benedict on our list. The Christmas Jigsaw Murders is Benedict’s most recent release, and it contains her hallmark twisted puzzles and holiday settings. Just a couple of factors throw it from a mystery to a…
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Advent of Mystery, Day 3: Christmas Presents
It’s the third day of our Advent of Mystery and we’re looking at Christmas Presents by Lisa Unger. Unger’s work is a little out of my usual zone, but I was excited to see how I’d fare with another thriller-style mystery. Christmas Presents follows the story of a bookshop owner, Madeline Martin, whose life is…