The Usual Santas: A Collection of Soho Crime Christmas Capers

From the Foreword by Peter Lovesey: I believe Christmas has inspired more short stories than any other theme.

There's nothing like a good mix of crime and Christmas to put you in the holiday spirit, and Soho Crime has come up with a winning collection of short stories for a wide range of reading preferences.

These eighteen stories are written by bestselling and award-winning authors. With crime and Christmas as their common themes, they range from laugh-filled to heartwarming to the most hardboiled of holiday noir. They're also set all over the world: Sweden, England, South Korea, Thailand, Cuba, Ireland, the United States-- and the list goes on.

These stories do run the gamut of styles, and some of the authors contributed something different from what their fans may be used to. For example, Gary Corby, who writes the wonderful Athenian mysteries set in ancient Greece, has a very different subject and setting this time. (I do enjoy it when my favorite authors "branch out" from time to time.)

There are so many gems in The Usual Santas, but I will at least mention the ones that shone the brightest for me: Helene Tursten's "An Elderly Lady Seeks Peace at Christmas Time," Mick Herron's "The Usual Santas," Ed Lin's "Martin," and Colin Cotterill's "There's Only One Father Christmas, Right?" And I feel guilty for not listing them all. 

There's also an added bonus to reading a short story collection like this. Have you wondered if you'd like these authors' books? Then this collection is an excellent starting point for you. Don't be surprised if you find yourself heading to the bookstore or library with a long list of new authors after reading The Usual Santas. Oh, the wonderful reading you have in store!

The Usual Santas: A Collection of Soho Crime Christmas Capers

ISBN: 9781616957759

Soho Crime © 2017

Hardcover, 416 pages

Short Story Collection

Rating: A

Source: the publisher

Tim Hallinan & Ed Lin at The Poisoned Pen!

Less than a week after seeing Jeffrey Siger and Mark Pryor, Denis and I were back at The Poisoned Pen to see another two authors: Tim Hallinan and Ed Lin. Authors do remember the people who show up to their signings. Proof in point: after doing some book buying, Tim recognized us and came to sit with Denis and me in the back of the bookstore. We told him about Bodie and Denis showed him some of the photos we'd taken, and Tim gave me a few book recommendations based on my interest in that old ghost town. One of the other things we talked about was the expectation that attendance would be low since the first game of the World Series was being played that night. My theory was that my presence would probably jinx the Cubbies, so I didn't alter my plans to go see one of my favorite authors. I'm glad I didn't. I would've missed out on a fun conversation otherwise!

L to R: Barbara Peters, Tim Hallinan, Ed Lin

Once the event officially began, host Barbara Peters mentioned the fact that things were becoming very interesting in Thailand with the death of the king, who was a very beloved figure among his people. The Crown Prince is first in line to the throne, but he has proven himself to be extremely untrustworthy. There could be a real problem with the succession because the person everyone wants to sit on the throne is the crown prince's younger sister, who is highly thought of. Even though she is gay, there would be no problem as far as the succession is concerned-- only that it would mean she would represent the last generation of the royal family. Tim and Barbara emphasized Thailand's fascinating history. For instance, it is the only Asian country not invaded or taken over by Europeans, and it is the only country not to have an uprising against the Chinese.

Available Now!

Ed Lin's newest book, Incensed, is the latest in the Night Market series set in Taipei, Taiwan. Barbara, who has been there, told us, "The night markets are fabulous. By day Taipei is rather ugly, but at night when the market lights come on, it's lots more fun."

Lin agreed. "It's been said that the Taiwanese live to eat and eat to live." When Hallinan mentioned the political situation there, Lin said, "Taiwan is now one of the most democratic countries in Asia-- unlike the past when people could be 'disappeared' for things like moving or speaking when the flag was lowered at 5 PM each day."

When asked about his main character, Lin said, "Jing-nan runs a restaurant at the night market to pay off his father's debts. In Incensed, he has to do a favor for his gangster uncle who's having trouble with his teenage daughter and her unsuitable boyfriend." 

Hallinan spoke up. "I love these books, and I love the main character. Jing-nan is a typical Taiwanese who has a Western outlook, and-- even though I do say so myself-- Ed and I both write excellent snotty teenage girls!"

Tim and Ed made sure we all had fun.

Lin told us a bit about gangster fights at karaoke bars in Taiwan, which reminded Hallinan about a fight in a Thai karaoke bar.  "Four men wielding heavy metal ashtrays beat a man to death who wouldn't stop singing 'My Way.'"

And since this was pre-Election, Ed mentioned that Taiwan had just elected its first female president. 

Barbara turned to Tim and said, "We've talked about Thailand because your Poke Rafferty series is set there, but you're not here for Poke, you're here for Junior Bender. Tell us a bit about him."

"I started having this voice in my head tell me a story about a crook and a koala bear. It wouldn't stop, so I decided to work with it. I began thinking about a crook who works as a private investigator for other crooks because-- you know-- these people have their problems, too."

Tim came up with what he thought was an ingenious way to break into a house: "...deliver a huge box to the front door. The burglar stands inside the box to pick the lock and then go inside. Shortly after that book came out, the San Fernando Police Department sent a couple of detectives to the house to ask me, 'How do you know about the refrigerator robberies?'

Available Now!

"In Fields Where They Lay, I got the idea to trap Junior in a putrid, crumbling San Fernando shopping mall two days before Christmas. Junior and I just happen to share some of the same opinions of this holiday," Hallinan said. "I thought it would be fun to write, but by the end of the book, I hated it. I thought it was a real piece of cheese!"

Anyone who'd already read the book (like Barbara and me) stared at Tim in disbelief. "It's gotten nothing but starred reviews!" Barbara exclaimed. Tim smiled, shrugged, and asked, "And why is it that when you open a published copy of your book, the first thing you see is a typo?!?" 

Time was zipping past like the speed of light. Both men were asked what was next on their agendas. Tim's next Poke Rafferty book is tentatively called Fool's River, which is the name of the river that flows through the town where Poke's wife Rose grew up. "Rose believes that most people pitch their tents along a fool's river," Tim said. "I really like this book."

Tim also answered a question that I'd been wanting the answer to: which of his series sells better-- Poke or Junior? I thought I knew the answer, and I was right: Junior Bender sells better. All I can say is that the folks who love Junior are missing out on some superb writing in Tim's series set in Thailand!

While Ed Lin confirmed that Taiwan is one of the most superstitious countries on earth, a lot of the Q&A period was spent grilling Tim Hallinan. 

Among other things, Tim told us...

• that there is one plot line in Fields Where They Lay that will play out over the next two to three Junior Bender books
• that he wrote eight books before he wrote a scene with two females and no male present

... but perhaps the most exciting news to me was what he told us of a standalone book he's currently working on. Tim knows a lot about old Hollywood, and occasionally he can use bits and pieces of that knowledge in a Junior Bender mystery. But one night he was watching an old Busby Berkeley film, and when the camera panned down a long line of beautiful females (as it always did in one of his films), Hallinan began to wonder about those smiling women. What happened to them? Where did they go? What did they do?

All that pondering led him to begin writing a mystery set in 1932 Hollywood called The Moving Party. The three main characters are women who dance for Berkeley in his movies. Berkeley is having a house moved from one part of town to another, and he thinks, 'Wouldn't it be fun to have a party in a moving house?' Of course, something happens during the party, and those three dancers are going to solve everything. My verdict on The Moving Party? I can't wait!

My verdict on this author event? It was over much too soon. I can't wait until the next time Ed Lin and Tim Hallinan are in town!

July 2014 New Mystery Releases!

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm getting a lot of prime reading done so far this summer. Of course, it doesn't hurt that I get to sit out in the shady end of my pool while doing so. If I had a heated pool and could read out there all year long, I'd probably develop webbed fingers and toes. Well... at least toes!

I'm definitely making dents in my to-be-read shelves, but you know me-- I'm always on the lookout for new books to read.

These are my picks for new mysteries arriving throughout the month of July. They are sorted by release date, and I've listed all the information you'll need to find them at your favorite book procurement sites. Book synopses are courtesy of Amazon.

Happy Reading!

=== July 1 ===

Title: The Prime Minister's Secret Agent

Author: Susan Elia MacNeal

#4 in an historical mystery series featuring Maggie Hope, typist-turned-spy, during World War II

ISBN: 9780345536747

Publisher: Bantam

Paperback, 320 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "World War II rages on across Europe, but Maggie Hope has finally found a moment of rest on the pastoral coast of western Scotland. Home from an undercover mission in Berlin, she settles down to teach at her old spy training camp, and to heal from scars on both her body and heart. Yet instead of enjoying the quieter pace of life, Maggie is quickly drawn into another web of danger and intrigue. When three ballerinas fall strangely ill in Glasgow—including one of Maggie’s dearest friends—Maggie partners with MI-5 to uncover the truth behind their unusual symptoms. What she finds points to a series of poisonings that may expose shocking government secrets and put countless British lives at stake. But it’s the fight brewing in the Pacific that will forever change the course of the war—and indelibly shape Maggie’s fate."

Title: Be Careful What You Witch For

Author: Dawn Eastman

#2 in the Family Fortune cozy series set in western Michigan

ISBN: 9780425264478
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

Synopsis: "Leaving a traumatic police career behind, Clyde Fortune has returned to her seemingly quiet hometown of Crystal Haven, Michigan. In spite of the psychic powers of its residents, there’s no telling what trouble is brewing in this burg…

The highlight of this year's fall festival in Crystal Haven is a bonfire with a witch’s cauldron resting over it. Clyde’s best friend, Diana, leads a ritual to divine the future, but it seems no one foresees that one of their own will drop dead—or that Diana will be a prime suspect.

Clyde already has her hands full with her eccentric family, runaway nephew, and burgeoning secret romance with a hunky homicide detective. But after another coven member is attacked, Clyde suspects there’s a witch hunt afoot and focuses her psychic and sleuthing skills to clear her friend’s name and catch a killer."

Title: Ill-Gotten Panes
Author: Jennifer McAndrews
#1 in the Stained Glass cozy series set in New York state
ISBN:  9780425267950
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

Synopsis: "After a banking scandal loses Georgia her job and fiancé, she decides that a change of scenery will help piece her life back together. But escaping to her grandfather’s house in the old-fashioned, brick-making Hudson River hamlet of Wenwood, New York, turns out to be less relaxing than she expects. Not only is the close-knit community on edge about their beloved brickworks being turned into a marina to draw in tourists, one of those most opposed to the project winds up dead—cracked over the head with a famous Wenwood brick.

Georgia wouldn’t be broken up over the news except for the fact that the main suspect is the deceased’s biggest adversary—her grandfather. Now, to remove the stain from her grandy’s record, Georgia will have to figure out who in town was willing to kill to keep the renovation project alive, before someone else is permanently cut out of the picture…"

Title: The White Magic Five and Dime
Authors: Steve Hockensmith, Lisa Falco
#1 in the Tarot Mysteries set in Arizona
ISBN: 9780738740225
Publisher: Midnight Ink
Paperback, 336 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "Much to Alanis McLachlan's surprise, her estranged con-woman mother has left her an inheritance: The White Magic Five & Dime, a shop in tiny Berdache, Arizona. Reluctantly traveling to Berdache to claim her new property, Alanis decides to stay and pick up her mother's tarot business in an attempt to find out how she died.
With help from a hunky cop and her mother's live-in teenage apprentice, Alanis begins faking her way trough tarot readings in order to win the confidence of her mother's clients.  But the more she uses the tarot deck, the more Alanis begins to find real meaning in the cards ... and the secrets surrounding her mother's demise."

=== July 8 ===

Title: The Dead Will Tell

Author: Linda Castillo

#6 in the Kate Burkholder police procedural series set in Ohio

ISBN: 9781250029577

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Hardcover, 320 pages

Synopsis: "Everyone in Painters Mill knows the abandoned Hochstetler farm is haunted. But only a handful of the residents remember the terrible secrets lost in the muted/hushed whispers of time—and now death is stalking them, seemingly from the grave.

 On a late-night shift, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is called to the scene of an apparent suicide—an old man found hanging from the rafters in his dilapidated barn. But evidence quickly points to murder and Kate finds herself chasing a singularly difficult and elusive trail of evidence that somehow points back to the tragedy of that long ago incident. Meanwhile, Kate has moved in with state agent John Tomasetti and for the first time in so long, they're both happy; a bliss quickly shattered when one of the men responsible for the murders of Tomasetti’s family four years ago is found not guilty, and walks away a free man. Will Tomasetti be pulled back to his own haunted past?

When a second man is found dead—also seemingly by his own hand—Kate discovers a link in the case that sends the investigation in a direction no one could imagine and revealing the horrifying truth of what really happened that terrible night thirty-five years ago, when an Amish father and his four children perished—and his young wife disappeared without a trace. 

And, as Kate knows—the past never truly dies . .."

=== July 15 ===

Title: The Bone Orchard

Author: Paul Doiron

#5 in the Game Warden Mike Bowditch series set in the wilds of Maine

ISBN: 9781250034885

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Hardcover, 320 pages

Synopsis: "In the aftermath of a family tragedy, Mike Bowditch has left the Maine Warden Service and is working as a fishing guide in the North Woods. But when his mentor Sgt. Kathy Frost is forced to kill a troubled war veteran in an apparent case of "suicide by cop," he begins having second thoughts about his decision.

Now Kathy finds herself the target of a government inquiry and outrage from the dead soldier's platoon mates. Soon she finds herself in the sights of a sniper, as well. When the sergeant is shot outside her farmhouse, Mike joins the hunt to find the mysterious man responsible. To do so, the ex-warden must plunge into his friend's secret past—even as a beautiful woman from Mike's own past returns, throwing into jeopardy his tentative romance with wildlife biologist Stacey Stevens.

As Kathy Frost lies on the brink of death and a dangerous shooter stalks the blueberry barrens of central Maine, Bowditch is forced to confront the choices he has made and determine, once and for all, the kind of man he truly is."

Title: Herbie's Game

Author: Timothy Hallinan

#4 in the Junior Bender P.I. series set in Los Angeles, California

ISBN:  9781616954291
Publisher: Soho Crime
Hardcover, 400 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "It’s everyday business when Wattles, the San Fernando Valley’s top “executive crook,” sets up a hit. He establishes a chain of criminals to pass along the instructions and the money, thereby ensuring that the hitter doesn’t know who hired him. Then one day Wattles finds his office safe open and a single item missing: the piece of paper on which he has written the names of the crooks in the chain. When people associated with the chain begin to pop up dead, the only person Wattles can turn to to solve his problem is Junior Bender, professional burglar and begrudging private eye for crooks.

But Junior already knows exactly who took Wattles’s list: the signature is too obvious. It was Herbie Mott, Junior’s burglar mentor and second father—and when Junior seeks him out to discuss the missing list, he finds Herbie very unpleasantly murdered. Junior follows the links in the chain back toward the killer, and as he does, he learns disturbing things about Herbie’s hidden past. He has to ask himself how much of the life he’s lived for the past twenty years has been of his own making, and how much of it was actually Herbie’s game."

Title: World of Trouble
Author: Ben H. Winters
#3 in the Last Policeman trilogy set in New Hampshire
ISBN: 9781594746857
Publisher: Quirk Books
Paperback, 320 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "Critically acclaimed author Ben H. Winters delivers this explosive final installment in the Edgar Award winning Last Policeman series. With the doomsday asteroid looming, Detective Hank Palace has found sanctuary in the woods of New England, secure in a well-stocked safe house with other onetime members of the Concord police force. But with time ticking away before the asteroid makes landfall, Hank’s safety is only relative, and his only relative—his sister Nico—isn’t safe. Soon, it’s clear that there’s more than one earth-shattering revelation on the horizon, and it’s up to Hank to solve the puzzle before time runs out . . . for everyone."

=== July 22 ===

Title: Remains of Innocence

Author: J.A. Jance

#16 in the Sheriff Joanna Brady series set in Bisbee, Arizona

ISBN:  9780062134707

Publisher: William Morrow

Hardcover, 400 pages

Synopsis: "Sheriff Joanna Brady must solve two perplexing cases that may be tied together in New York Times bestselling author J. A. Jance’s thrilling tale of suspense that brings to life Arizona’s Cochise County and the desert Southwest in all its beauty and mystery.

An old woman, a hoarder, is dying of emphysema in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. In cleaning out her house, her daughter, Liza Machett, discovers a fortune in hundred dollar bills hidden in the tall stacks of books and magazines that crowd every corner.

Tracing the money’s origins will take Liza on a journey that will end in Cochise County, where Sheriff Joanna Brady is embroiled in a personal mystery of her own. A man she considers a family friend is found dead at the bottom of a hole in a limestone cavern near Bisbee. And now there is the mystery of Liza and the money. Are the two disparate cases connected? It’s up to Joanna to find out."

=== July 24 ===

Title: The Bone Seeker

Author: M.J. McGrath

#3 in the Edie Kiglatuk series set in the Canadian Arctic

ISBN:  9780670785803

Publisher: Viking

Hardcover, 352 pages

Synopsis: "In the third novel in this highly praised mystery series, Edie Kiglatuk works as a summer school teacher in the Canadian arctic. When one of her female students is found dead in nearby Lake Turngaluk, Edie enlists the help of Sergeant Derek Palliser to pursue the case, promising the girl’s Inuit family that they will uncover the truth. Meanwhile, lawyer Sonia Gutierrez investigates the toxicity of the lake and suspects that there might be a larger conspiracy involved. As the three clamber over rocky terrain under twenty-four-hour daylight they start to unearth secrets long frozen over—risking their own lives in the process. With stunning prose, M. J. McGrath delivers another thrill ride through a hauntingly beautiful landscape."

=== July 25 ===

Title: I Can See in the Dark

Author: Karin Fossum

Standalone thriller set in Norway

ISBN: 9780544114425

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Hardcover, 224 pages

Synopsis: "Riktor doesn’t like the way the policeman storms into his home without even knocking. He doesn’t like the arrogant way he walks around the house, taking note of its contents. The policeman doesn’t bother to explain why he’s there, and Riktor is too afraid to ask. He knows he’s guilty of a terrible crime and he’s sure the policeman has found him out. 

But when the policeman finally does confront him, Riktor freezes. The man is arresting him for something totally unexpected. Riktor doesn’t have a clear conscience, but the crime he’s being accused of is one he certainly didn’t commit. Can he clear his name without further incriminating himself?"

=== July 29 ===

Title: Ghost Month

Author: Ed Lin

Standalone thriller set in Taiwan

ISBN: 9781616953263

Publisher: Soho Crime

Hardcover, 336 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "August is Ghost Month in Taiwan—a time to commemorate the dead: burn incense, visit shrines, honor ancestors, and avoid unlucky situations, large purchases, and bodies of water. Jing-nan, a young man who runs a food stand in a bustling Taipei night market, doesn't consider himself superstitious, but this August is going to haunt him no matter what he does. He is shocked to the core when he learns his ex-girlfriend from high school has been murdered. She was found scantily clad and shot on the side of a highway where she was selling betel nuts to passing truck drivers. Beyond his harrowing grief for his lost love, Jing-nan is confused by the news. "Betel nut beauties" are usually women in the most desperate of circumstances; the job is almost as taboo as prostitution. But Julia Huang had been the valedictorian of their high school, and the last time Jing-nan spoke to her she was enrolled in NYU's honor program, far away in New York. The facts don't add up. Julia's parents don't think so, either, and the police seem to have closed the case without asking any questions. The Huangs beg Jing-nan to do some investigating on his own—reconnect with old classmates, see if he can learn anything about Julia's life that she might have kept from them. Reluctantly, he agrees, for Julia's sake. But nothing can prepare him for what he learns, or how it will change his life."

Wow-- what a month! Any time there's a new Joanna Brady mystery, I think it's Christmas... and then there's the final installment of Ben Winters' marvelous Last Policeman trilogy... and Timothy Hallinan... and... and... 

Got. To. Read. Faster!

What about all of you? Do any of these titles make your Need to Read lists? Do tell!