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    Silent Nights: Christmas Mysteries
    Unavailable
    Silent Nights: Christmas Mysteries
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    Silent Nights: Christmas Mysteries
    Ebook321 pages5 hours

    Silent Nights: Christmas Mysteries

    By Sourcebooks

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    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Mystery crime fiction written in the Golden Age of Murder

    "Like an assortment of presents under a Christmas tree, there's something for everyone in this Yule-themed reprint anthology in the British Library Crime Classics series from Edwards." —Publishers Weekly

    Christmas is a mysterious, as well as magical, time of year. Strange things can happen, and this helps to explain the hallowed tradition of telling ghost stories around the fireside as the year draws to a close. Christmas tales of crime and detection have a similar appeal. When television becomes tiresome, and party games pall, the prospect of curling up in the warm with a good mystery is enticing—and much better for the digestion than yet another helping of plum pudding.

    Crime writers are just as susceptible as readers to the countless attractions of Christmas. Over the years, many distinguished practitioners of the genre have given one or more of their stories a Yuletide setting. The most memorable Christmas mysteries blend a lively storyline with an atmospheric evocation of the season. Getting the mixture right is much harder than it looks.

    This book introduces of readers to some of the finest Christmas detective stories of the past. Martin Edwards' selection blends festive pieces from much-loved authors with one or two stories which are likely to be unfamiliar even to diehard mystery fans. The result is a collection of crime fiction to savor, whatever the season.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSourcebooks
    Release dateNov 3, 2015
    ISBN9781464205002
    Unavailable
    Silent Nights: Christmas Mysteries

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    Reviews for Silent Nights

    4/5

    49 ratings6 reviews

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    • 5/5
      A great selection of Christmas short stories from authors known and unknown to me.
      My favourites were Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "Blue Carbuncle" and Dorothy L Sayers' " The Necklace of Pearls".
      This is one book that I shall be rereading over the Christmas period!
      I'm so glad that Poisoned Pen publishers are reprining novels from the British Library catalogue as they have many book titles which should be brought into the public domain again.
      Keep up the good work!
      I was given a digital copy by the publisher via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.
    • 4/5
      This collection of short stories set at Christmastime showcases the work of many of the Golden Age mystery writers such as Dorothy Sayers and Margery Allingham. Some of the stories, like Arthur Conan Doyle's “The Blue Carbuncle” and Sayers' “The Necklace of Pearls,” have appeared in other anthologies. Other stories are more obscure and will be new to almost all readers. It's a solid collection that will delight fans of Golden Age mysteries, and it may persuade other readers to join their ranks.
    • 4/5
      Silent Nights is a collection of short stories written by some of the top mystery writers of the Golden Age. Some of the authors will be familiar to you, others won't. Although they're all set during the Christmas season, there is very little holiday spirit to be found in them, so don't pick this book up expecting to make merry.Most of the mysteries seem to involve some sort of puzzle, and country house settings are found in quite a few. (Of course-- everyone goes to their country house for Christmas, don't they?) Editor Martin Edwards' introduction to the book and his individual introductions to each short story are interesting and informative, so I suggest that you don't skip them. One of the interesting tidbits I learned was that several authors represented in this volume wrote stories Alfred Hitchcock later made into films.Having already read another British Library Crime Classic, Resorting to Murder, I knew what to expect. Many of the authors are no longer well known, but others-- like G.K. Chesterton and Dorothy L. Sayers-- are included here. On the whole I enjoyed Silent Nights more, although the quality of the stories is still a bit uneven. My favorites include Edgar Wallace's "Stuffing," J. Jefferson Farjeon's "The Absconding Treasurer," Sayer's "The Necklace of Pearls," Ethel Lina White's "Waxworks," Marjorie Bowen's "Cambric Tea," and "The Chinese Apple" by Joseph Shearing (nom de plume of Marjorie Bowen). Of these, Farjeon's and White's stories were used by Hitchcock. "A Problem in White" by Nicholas Blake (pseudonym of Cecil Day-Lewis) was unique in the puzzle category. The solution is not included in the story itself, but at the end of the book, giving readers time to mull over the clues and form their own conclusions.If you're a fan of Golden Age mysteries, you're still going to find a new-to-you story or two. If you're a novice like I am, they'll probably all be totally unfamiliar. Since these were written many decades ago when outlooks were quite different, you will run into a racial slur now and again. I chose not to be offended and instead was pleased at how attitudes have changed. I also found it interesting to see how popular crime fiction has changed over time.These British Library Crime Classics being released in the U.S. by Poisoned Pen Press are both entertaining and enlightening, and I recommend them.
    • 4/5
      This is a series of short stories, focusing on those of the "golden age" of detective fiction. I like that it is a varied list of names, most of whom I was not familiar with. As with any collection, some stories are better than others, but the good thing about this collection is that it doesn't really have any real duffers in it. It is also not overtly Christmassy, whil the stories are set at or around Christmas, it's not that they are all set at a Christmas party, for instance. Each story has a short introduction, telling the reader something of the author, their writing and the story selected. It's informative and the stories are a fun mix. Good one.
    • 4/5
      This is a collection of mysteries with Christmas settings."The Blue Carbuncle" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - A stolen jewel is found in a goose. Sherlock Holmes finds the thief in this tale ending with an unexpected twist (unless you've read the story before which I had)."Parlour Tricks" by Ralph Plummer - A robber is revealed through some amusements."A Happy Solution" by Raymond Allen - A thousand pound note intended for the Red Cross ends up in an envelpe addressed to Kenneth Dale. Dale solves the case."The Flying Stars" by G. K. Chesterton - A jewel thief steals three valuable jewels while staging a comedic act."Stuffing" by Edgar Wallace - A robbery is discovered at Carfane Hall. Some aspects reminded me of "The Blue Carbuncle.""The Unknown Murderer" by H. C. Bailey - A series of murders and attempted murders begins at a children''s party. Dr. Fortune investigates."The Absconding Treasurer" by J. Jefferson Farjeon - Someone, possibly the treasurer, took money intended for distribution between several persons. Detective Crook investigates."The Necklace of Pearls" by Dorothy L. Sayers - A string of pearls goes missing during parlour games at which Lord Peter Wimsey is present."The Case Is Altered" by Margery Allingham - Invited to spend Christmas at Philip Cookham's home, Albert Campion's suspicious are aroused by the guests' activities, uncovering a blackmail plot."Waxworks" by Ethel Lina White - A reporter spends a night in a haunted wax museum to write a story."Cambric Tea" by Marjoire Bowen - Dr. Bevis Holroyd is summoned to the Strangeways household where a dying man accuses his wifee of poisoning him."The Chinese Apple" by Joseph Shearing - Isabelle Crosland is tired after traveling from Florence to London. She'd agreed to meet her niece at the family home to take her back to Italy. The police queestion her about a murdered neighbor, warning her the murderer may be in disguise."A Problem in White" by Nicholas Blake -Arthur Kilmington travels on a train which previously was robbed. He ends up dead after the train is detained by weather. The reader must determine who was arrested for the murder."The Name on the Window" by Edmund Crispin - A locked room puzzle that isn't a locked room puzzle."Beef for Christmas" by Leo Bruce - A rich man invites retired Sergeant Beef to his home at Christmas. The man claims his relatives want him to quit his lavish spending so there will be an inheritance, implying they might resort to murder to ensure one remains.As with most collections, some stories are stronger than others. This collection is stronger than most, and Edwards deserves commendation for his selections. I admit I preferred the murder mysteries to the thefts. The introductory material, providing brief biographies of the authors as well as an introductions to the stories, needed to be formatted differently, providing a more noticeable difference between it and the actual story text.
    • 3/5
      A nice, cozy collection of classic Christmastime mysteries. I'd read many of them in other anthologies, but was pleased to find a new one here from an author I haven't read in a long time. Marjorie Bowen's "Cambric Tea" is a neat little plot featuring a truly despicable old man. While I enjoyed most of the stories, I find myself less and less able to overlook the classism and racism that were so much a part of life in the 1920s and 1930s.