In December, JPC Allen Writes will be all about Christmas. My prompts will be ones for starting conversations. So what’s your favorite Christmas story? The ones you have to read every year because the season doesn’t seem quite Christmas-y enough if you don’t read them. I’ll be reviewing some of my favorites on Thursdays this month, so I’ll mention different ones here.
From the Christmas mystery anthology, Silent Nights
- “The Case Is Altered” by Margery Allingham. Amateur sleuth Albert Campion stumbles onto suspicious activities during a Christmas house party at a country estate.
- “The Necklace of Pearls” by Dorothy L. Sayers. Another amateur sleuth, Lord Peter Wimsey, at another Christmas party at another country estate. This time, a pearl necklace turns up missing while the guest play party games.
From The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries
- “Gold, Frankincense, and Murder” by Catherine Aird. I like this mystery set around World War II because it takes place during a neighborhood party. I’ve never been to a house party on an English estate, but I have been to a Christmas party with friends. Although no one ends up poisoned at the parties I’ve attended.
- “A Scandal in Winter” by Gillian Linscott. This Sherlock Holmes story is a sequel to “A Scandal in Bohemia”. Set at a Swiss resort around 1900, the story is told from the point of view of a young girl who may have witnessed a murder the year before at Christmas.
- “Three Dot Po” by Sara Paretsky. I enjoyed meeting V.I. Warshawski, a female P.I., in this modern Christmas tale.
- “The Price of Light” by Ellis Peters. I’ve never been to medieval England either, but this story transports me to a Christmas at an abbey where Brother Cadfael tries to solve the theft of silver candlesticks from the altar to the Virgin Mary.
- “Killer Christian”by Andrew Klavan. A professional killer decides to reform, bringing him into a confrontation with another killer, known as The Death. It may be hard to believe, but this story has a very moving ending.