Thursday, December 17, 2020

Christmas Is Murder by Val McDermid

 

If you like a little despair, revenge, justice, and humor along with your Christmas cakes and cookies, pick up a copy of Val McDermid's short story anthology Christmas Is Murder.

McDermid covers a lot of ground in a series of twelve stories. From St. Petersburg to Sarajevo to the highlands of Scotland and beyond, readers meet a variety of people.

From Sherlock Holmes in "Holmes for Christmas" when he and Watson search for the true king of Scotland to a Carol Jordan and Tony Hill story in "Happy Holidays," readers find themselves in many different situations and feeling many differing emotions.

There's not a weak story in the bunch. Among my favorites is the humorous "The Girl Who Killed Santa Claus" when an eight-year-old girl thinks a burglar is stealing her Christmas presents.

There are interesting tidbits to be learned in these stories, too. (I'll have to remember the item about birch trees.) If you're a crime fiction fan who's in the mood to be enlightened and entertained, Christmas Is Murder is a fine way to spend a few hours by a holiday fire.

Christmas Is Murder by Val McDermid
ISBN: 9780751581775
Sphere © 2020
Hardcover, 250 pages
 
Short Story Anthology, Standalone
Rating: A-
Source: Purchased from The Poisoned Pen.

8 comments:

  1. I didn't know McDermid had done this collection, Cathy! It sounds good and she is a great writer. Some story collections can be a little uneven; it's rare to have a consistently good collection like this. Nothing like Christmas cheer, is there.... ;-)

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  2. Christmas and Chanukkah and Kwanzaa and Eid cheer.

    However, this does look enticing. I wonder if my library has it.

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  3. I definitely don't associate McDermid with festive holidays, but she's high on my (unofficial and unwritten) list of respected authors, so I will have to check this out.

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  4. This sounds like a change and I like the sound of it. Thanks for the review.

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