I always like to read a Christmassy themed book at this time of year, and for 2021 I chose this book of short crime stories all set at Christmas time. The book is part of the British Library Crime Classics series and each story has a short biographical introduction about it’s author.
There are eleven stories in all, and as with any compilation, some are more enjoyable than others – and which are which will be down to the personal opinion of the reader. I particularly liked The Christmas Card Crime by Donald Stuart, Sister Bessie or Your Old Leech by Cyril Hare and Twixt the Lip and the Cup by Julian Symons (the last one was probably my overall favourite).
The book also features stories by Baroness Orczy, Carter Dixon, Francis Durbridge and others. Some are rather old fashioned and as such feel quaint or tame, but given when they were written this is only to be expected. I would have preferred a more Christmassy feel to most of them – some of the stories were deemed to be seasonal just because they were set in December or there was a bit of snow falling and in most cases, the season itself was irrelevant. Nonetheless, the book was an interesting diversion and for the most part very enjoyable.
Between the Pages 