A collection of contemporary Christmas murder mysteries by such authors as Mary Higgins Clark, Isaac Asimov, and including one by Charlotte MacLeod.

FROM AMAZON: Every one of the great detectives of literature, from Sherlock Holmes to Hercule Poirot to Nero Wolfe, has endured a holiday marred by murder. Now, modern mystery writers including Mary Higgins Clark, Marcia Muller, Aaron Elkins, and others place their detectives in a Yuletide setting for a special mix of murder and mistletoe. ( )

This was a wonderful collection. ( )

Early stories from some excellent writers, Muller Pronzini and Lutz stand out. ( )

This is another collection of Christmas themed mysteries, edited by Charlotte MacLeod. The collection contains several great stories by authors I know well and love. However, though most of the stories are great reads, some are not so great. I guess that happens when you have a collection of stories by different authors. I had never heard of many of the authors before this book, so I cannot compare these stories to their other works. In the case of those I did know, I found the stories in this volume as well done and as interesting as other works by them that I have read. One thing I did notice as I read, however, in some cases, there was not much of a mystery in the story. Many of these resembled feel-good, holiday stories we find everywhere. One good thing is the fact that the stories are short, so, if you do not particularly enjoy it, you are finished with the story quick enough.

The book provides a great way to read about and get into the holiday. I particularly enjoyed Asimov’s “Ho, Ho, Ho” which involved department-store Santa training with a twist, Mary Higgins Clark’s “That’s the Ticket, the story of a couple who finally hit it big in the lottery, and Marcia Muller’s “Silent Night”, where a tough PI spends Christmas looking for his run-away nephew. As with her other collection of Yuletide stories, Charlotte MacLeod inserted an intro before each story, which I personally could have done without. Some may have found this interesting, but I did not.

These stories were originally published years ago, with this a re-release, which is interesting to note. This does help me understand the stories better, as many did seem a bit outdated and strange for today. The stories will be interesting for those who recognize and/or enjoy the authors or for a reader looking for something written by well-known authors. I received this from NetGalley to read and review. ( )