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annieb123's review
4.0
Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
A Surprise for Christmas and Other Seasonal Mysteries is a nicely varied anthology of holiday crime curated by Martin Edwards and a part of the British Library Crime Classics series. Released 12th Oct 2021 by Poisoned Pen Press, it's 320 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
I enjoyed this collection of holiday themed stories which were originally published between 1933 and 1963. All of them are from very well known classic golden age British crime writers and are well selected and enjoyable. The classic authors are represented: Marsh, Carr, Allingham, Canning, and all the others (8 stories in toto) will be well familiar to fans of the British golden age.
The stories are a mixed bunch, but all were enjoyable and all were squarely in the 4 star range. I was unfamiliar with several of the actual stories, which was a nice bonus. Some are lesser known works by very well known creators.
For me, one of the biggest draws of the books in the crime classics series are the erudite and always interesting introductions by editor Martin Edwards. Mr. Edwards has a prodigious knowledge of the genre and writes engagingly and well.
Well written, this entry and the series as a whole are well worth seeking out. This would make a superlative selection for readers of the genre as well as an introduction to classic crime fiction from the golden age. It's so nice to see these being released for a new generation of fans.
Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
A Surprise for Christmas and Other Seasonal Mysteries is a nicely varied anthology of holiday crime curated by Martin Edwards and a part of the British Library Crime Classics series. Released 12th Oct 2021 by Poisoned Pen Press, it's 320 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
I enjoyed this collection of holiday themed stories which were originally published between 1933 and 1963. All of them are from very well known classic golden age British crime writers and are well selected and enjoyable. The classic authors are represented: Marsh, Carr, Allingham, Canning, and all the others (8 stories in toto) will be well familiar to fans of the British golden age.
The stories are a mixed bunch, but all were enjoyable and all were squarely in the 4 star range. I was unfamiliar with several of the actual stories, which was a nice bonus. Some are lesser known works by very well known creators.
For me, one of the biggest draws of the books in the crime classics series are the erudite and always interesting introductions by editor Martin Edwards. Mr. Edwards has a prodigious knowledge of the genre and writes engagingly and well.
Well written, this entry and the series as a whole are well worth seeking out. This would make a superlative selection for readers of the genre as well as an introduction to classic crime fiction from the golden age. It's so nice to see these being released for a new generation of fans.
Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
fhm1998's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
spikers's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
fictionfan's review against another edition
4.0
Ho! Ho! Aargh!
What better time to be thinking about murder than when getting together with your loved ones for some festive cheer! This is another collection of vintage crime stories from Martin Edwards and the British Library, each with a Christmas theme. There are twelve in the book, as always with a mix of very famous authors like Margery Allingham, Ngaio Marsh and GK Chesterton, along with some that are less well known, to me at least.
And, as always, the quality is somewhat mixed, although there are no real duds and a few standout stories among them. I gave six of them four stars, while three got the full five, so I’d say this was a pretty solid collection overall. The stories I ranked highest all came at the end, which left me feeling much more impressed than I was, perhaps, halfway through. I felt it was a bit of cheat to include a Julian Symons story that had turned up in the Christmas collection just a couple of years ago, though, giving it a different title this time. But that will only matter to geeks like me who read all of the crime anthologies the BL produces, and it is a good story!
As usual, here’s a flavour of a few of the ones I most enjoyed…
Dead Man’s Hand by ER Punshon. A servant and his wife plan to murder and rob their employer. This is a very short and quite slight story, but it uses the heavy snowfall in an intriguing way to provide cover for the murderer, and gives a nicely dark picture of evil and guilt.
On Christmas Day in the Morning by Margery Allingham. On Christmas morning, a postman is run down by a car and killed. The police think they know who the men were who were in the car, but it seems they couldn’t have done it since the postman was in a different place when they drove drunkenly through the village. It’s up to Campion to work out if they are the guilty ones, and if so, how it happened. This is quite an interesting take on breaking an unbreakable alibi, but what lifts it is the insightful and somewhat sad picture of how lonely Christmas can be for those without families around them.
Give me a Ring by Anthony Gilbert (aka Anne Meredith). On Christmas Eve, Gillian Hynde loses her way in a sudden London fog and steps into a shop to ask for directions. Unknowingly, she has walked into danger, and finds herself kidnapped and held captive. The story is mostly about her fiancé’s desperate attempts to find her, with the assistance of Arthur Crook, lawyer and scourge of the criminal classes – and apparently a successful series detective back in the day. This is a nearly novella-length thriller, very well written, fast-moving and high on suspense, especially since both Gillian and Richard, the fiancé, are likeable protagonists.
The Turn-Again Bell by Barry Perowne. An elderly rector is waiting for his son to come home on Christmas leave from the navy. The plan is that the son will marry his childhood sweetheart on Boxing Day, in the Rector’s ancient Norman church. But there is a legend that each Rector will at some time hear the church bell toll just once on Christmas Eve and this is a portent that he will not live to see the following Christmas. This is a beautifully written, perfect little story, admittedly with no actual crime in it but with all the right messages for Christmas, and it left me with a tear or two in my cynical eye, and a warm fuzzy feeling of goodwill to all mankind. Can’t be bad, eh?
So a good mix of style and tone, with everything from high octane thrills to more thoughtful festive fare. And proves it’s not always necessary to murder someone to enjoy yourself at Christmas...
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, the British Library.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
What better time to be thinking about murder than when getting together with your loved ones for some festive cheer! This is another collection of vintage crime stories from Martin Edwards and the British Library, each with a Christmas theme. There are twelve in the book, as always with a mix of very famous authors like Margery Allingham, Ngaio Marsh and GK Chesterton, along with some that are less well known, to me at least.
And, as always, the quality is somewhat mixed, although there are no real duds and a few standout stories among them. I gave six of them four stars, while three got the full five, so I’d say this was a pretty solid collection overall. The stories I ranked highest all came at the end, which left me feeling much more impressed than I was, perhaps, halfway through. I felt it was a bit of cheat to include a Julian Symons story that had turned up in the Christmas collection just a couple of years ago, though, giving it a different title this time. But that will only matter to geeks like me who read all of the crime anthologies the BL produces, and it is a good story!
As usual, here’s a flavour of a few of the ones I most enjoyed…
Dead Man’s Hand by ER Punshon. A servant and his wife plan to murder and rob their employer. This is a very short and quite slight story, but it uses the heavy snowfall in an intriguing way to provide cover for the murderer, and gives a nicely dark picture of evil and guilt.
On Christmas Day in the Morning by Margery Allingham. On Christmas morning, a postman is run down by a car and killed. The police think they know who the men were who were in the car, but it seems they couldn’t have done it since the postman was in a different place when they drove drunkenly through the village. It’s up to Campion to work out if they are the guilty ones, and if so, how it happened. This is quite an interesting take on breaking an unbreakable alibi, but what lifts it is the insightful and somewhat sad picture of how lonely Christmas can be for those without families around them.
Give me a Ring by Anthony Gilbert (aka Anne Meredith). On Christmas Eve, Gillian Hynde loses her way in a sudden London fog and steps into a shop to ask for directions. Unknowingly, she has walked into danger, and finds herself kidnapped and held captive. The story is mostly about her fiancé’s desperate attempts to find her, with the assistance of Arthur Crook, lawyer and scourge of the criminal classes – and apparently a successful series detective back in the day. This is a nearly novella-length thriller, very well written, fast-moving and high on suspense, especially since both Gillian and Richard, the fiancé, are likeable protagonists.
The Turn-Again Bell by Barry Perowne. An elderly rector is waiting for his son to come home on Christmas leave from the navy. The plan is that the son will marry his childhood sweetheart on Boxing Day, in the Rector’s ancient Norman church. But there is a legend that each Rector will at some time hear the church bell toll just once on Christmas Eve and this is a portent that he will not live to see the following Christmas. This is a beautifully written, perfect little story, admittedly with no actual crime in it but with all the right messages for Christmas, and it left me with a tear or two in my cynical eye, and a warm fuzzy feeling of goodwill to all mankind. Can’t be bad, eh?
So a good mix of style and tone, with everything from high octane thrills to more thoughtful festive fare. And proves it’s not always necessary to murder someone to enjoy yourself at Christmas...
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, the British Library.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
magistratrium's review against another edition
4.0
Engaging short mysteries by Golden Age authors, all set at Christmas time. A couple surprised me at the end, which is always fun.
bgg616's review against another edition
5.0
I started reading the British Crime Library Classics a few years ago. I've learned that my favorites are the volumes of short stories edited by [a:Martin Edwards (Editor)|22038316|Martin Edwards (Editor)|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]. This volume includes twelve stories - one is actually a novella. Three of the contributors are women, and two are not native Brits but apparently they get things right as they each- Ngaio Marsh and Carter Dickson - lived in England for years.
There is not a single dud in this collection. I worried that the novella-length story- Give Me a Ring- would be a slog. But this is enough foreshadowing, that we know as soon as the naive, young Gillian HInde, a student nurse, gets turned around in the London fog, and enters a dubious business, something bad is sure to happen. There is a story by Catharine Pirkis, that introduces a "lady detective" who will figure in her future magazine stories. There are stories set in country homes, city department stores, and dive bars, and a country church, and all sorts of places in between. My favorite was the final story - The Turn-Again Bell - about a local legend about the church bell. On Christmas Eve, a single ring of the bell, which happened without anyone touching it, meant that the following year would be the last for the current Rector.
This is a collection that will satisfy readers who grave some Christmas mysteries to read in the waning days of December.
There is not a single dud in this collection. I worried that the novella-length story- Give Me a Ring- would be a slog. But this is enough foreshadowing, that we know as soon as the naive, young Gillian HInde, a student nurse, gets turned around in the London fog, and enters a dubious business, something bad is sure to happen. There is a story by Catharine Pirkis, that introduces a "lady detective" who will figure in her future magazine stories. There are stories set in country homes, city department stores, and dive bars, and a country church, and all sorts of places in between. My favorite was the final story - The Turn-Again Bell - about a local legend about the church bell. On Christmas Eve, a single ring of the bell, which happened without anyone touching it, meant that the following year would be the last for the current Rector.
This is a collection that will satisfy readers who grave some Christmas mysteries to read in the waning days of December.
yew676's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0