Holiday Review: Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop

Posted December 18, 2024 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 1 Comment

holiday-review-headerHoliday Review: Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious BookshopChristmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop by Otto Penzler, Jason Starr, Lyndsay Faye, Loren D. Estleman, Ace Atkins, Rob Hart, Laura Lippman, Jeffery Deaver, Thomas Perry, Ragnar Jónasson, Tom Mead, David Gordon, Martin Edwards
Genres: Adult, Holiday, Mystery/Thriller
Published by Mysterious Press Format: Audio/Physical (332 pages) • Source: Everand, Library
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three-half-stars

Thirteen festive crime stories set in New York City’s beloved mystery bookstore

The oldest mystery specialty bookstore in the world, The Mysterious Bookshop, has for most of its forty-five-year history commissioned an original short story as a holiday gift for its customers. Written exclusively for the store and never published elsewhere, the stories were given as a holiday gift to its customers as a thank you for their business, handed out or mailed between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.The prompt for the story requires three that it be set at Christmastime, that it involve a crime of some kind, or the suspicion of one, and that it be set at least partially in the bookstore. And from these loose structural guidelines, diverse tales took flight. The thirteen tales included in this volume are among the finest to be produced in this annual tradition, sure to charm any reader looking for a holiday-themed escape. Included herein are the ingenious “Snowflake Time” by Laura Lippman; Lyndsay Faye’s tale of vengeance “A Midnight Clear”; the challenging brainteaser, “A Christmas Puzzle,” by Ragnar Jónasson; “Hester’s Gift,” an impossible crime story by Tom Mead; the suspenseful “The Christmas Party” by Jeffery Deaver; Thomas Perry’s hilarious comedy of errors, “Here We Come A-Wassailing;” and other tales appropriate for the season, collected and introduced by Otto Penzler. The result is, objectively speaking, the finest “stocking stuffer” that a mystery fan could hope to find.

Overall

Average 3.5 stars across the 12 stories. This wasn’t a bad collection but not very memorable. I liked the stories that centered more around the bookstore. Lots of them were about authors or writers (which made sense) and had a ton of literary/mystery references. Probably a great collection for a classic mystery lover.

Stories

Black Christmas – Jason Starr
three-stars

This was a bit creepy and depressing to start off the book of stories, but I didn’t mind it. I could assume where it was going but the very end confused me.

A Midnight Clear – Lyndsay Faye
three-half-stars

I kind of thought this was too similar to the first story but it took a more interesting turn toward the end. You expected it to go in one direction and it didn’t.

Wolfe Trap – Loren D. Estleman
two-stars

This is meant to be a “Claudius Lyon Mystery” apparently and even though you could argue you don’t need to know anything about that series to read this little standalone, it definitely would have helped… I’m still pretty confused about who the characters were, including the narrator. The ending was funny but overall not worth the effort and confusion.”

Secret Santa – Ace Atkins
four-half-stars

This was my favorite so far, easily! You expect a certain story arc and it repeatedly changes. The author did a whole lot in a short story. “The Writer” character himself went up and down in likability as well – lot of complexity in this.

The Gift of the Wiseguy – Rob Hart
four-stars

Kinda nice in a slightly fucked up way lol. I wasn’t expecting a mafia Christmas story but I think at this point I should expect anything from this book.

Snowflake Time – Laura Lippman
three-stars

Well the author definitely did a good job of making me hate the main character so the ending was satisfying. I wish there was some Christmas element though – not really important in this one.

The Christmas Party – Jeffery Deaver
two-half-stars

This was somewhat predictable. I like reading about shitty rich people but it was poorly plotted for a short story – the events happen and then the author just explained the backstory. Made for a lame ending.

Here We Come A-wassailing – Thomas Perry
three-half-stars

This was a fun one for the most part, following a bottle of alcohol around the city. I was expecting the worst so the ending was kind of a surprise but also not super exciting lol.

A Christmas Puzzle – Ragnar Jónasson
four-stars

A little repetitive but still a good one! I liked how prevalent the bookstore was in the story, especially compared to many others.

Hester’s Gift – Tom Mead
four-half-stars

This actually read like a classic mystery with some fun references (strangers on a train vibes), unlike many other stories in this collection. Fun female amateur sleuth MC.

Sergeant Santa – David Gordon
four-stars

I like this one quite a bit! I switched over to the audio, which is well done, but for some reason I kind of zoned out a little bit and might’ve missed some of the story. Definitely my fault but overall a fun one. Every time somebody masquerades as a cop when they find a lost badge I just think of Phoebe on Friends lol

End Game – Martin Edwards
three-half-stars

Another interesting story but nothing to write home about overall. There was kind of a story within the story, which got a little boring, but the ending was good.

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One response to “Holiday Review: Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop

  1. Jenz

    Hi. I’ve only read the first story and ended up here because I too, am confused about the ending, especially the last line. I’m not sure if the bookstore man followed him or what events really happened. I’m going to continue searching and also reading the rest of the compilation.

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