Reviews

Who killed Father Christmas? And Other Seasonal Mysteries by Martin Edwards

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tombomp's review

2.5

I enjoy reading this series, but it's really obvious how much barrel scraping is going on at this point. I think the editor genuinely enjoys looking for hidden stories, past just wanting new ones people haven't seen before. Although I agree it's interesting, the stories are often clearly low effort stuff even when written by good mystery authors. A good amount of these are pulled from old periodicals and it's understandable they were previously uncollected (or only obscurely so). Several don't really fit the mystery genre - one of the longest, A Present for Ivo, is clearly intended as a tribute to old boy's adventure stories, including a scene very familiar from The 39 Steps, with minimal mystery content. The most interesting one here is Herlock Sholmes' Christmas Case, purely for being a 1916 parody of Sherlock Holmes:

<blockquote>“True! But why tomorrow precisely?”

“Ah, there we go a little deeper, Jotson. I deduce that Christmas occurs tomorrow from a study of the calendar!”

“The calendar!” I exclaimed, in astonishment.

“Exactly!”

“As you know, Sholmes, I have endeavoured to study your methods, in my humbler way, yet I confess that I do not see the connection—”

“Probably not, Jotson. But to the trained, professional mind it presents no difficulties. Christmas, you are aware, falls upon the twenty-fifth day of the month!”

“True!”

“Look at the calendar, Jotson!”

I obeyed.

“It tells you nothing?”

“Nothing!” I confessed.

Sholmes smiled again, a somewhat bored smile.

“My dear fellow, the calendar indicates that today is the twenty-fourth!”

“Quite so. But—”

“And as Christmas falls upon the twenty-fifth, it follows—to an acute mind accustomed to rapid deductions—that tomorrow is Christmas!”

I could only gaze at my amazing friend in silent admiration.</blockquote>

Nothing here is actually bad, I had fun reading it, but nothing that really sticks out. Maybe 2 stars is a bit harsh but... it's just hard to recommend it over everything else in the world.

visigoth's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

reader_72's review

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adventurous lighthearted tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

amalia1985's review

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adventurous mysterious relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

‘’The night was cold and frosty with a frozen moon like a bulkhead light set in a bowl of steel. The broken arch of the ruins cast a sharp shadow across the rime-covered grass - a shadow that was lost in the deeper blackness within the curved arch.’’

We can’t have Christmas without an anthology of Christmas mysteries, superbly introduced and edited by Martin Edwards. This collection is the brand new offering from the archives of the British Library Crime Classics and is every bit as fun, mysterious and Christmassy as ever.

These are my favourite moments:

Τhe Christmas Thief (Frank Howel Evans): A game of espionage and counter-espionage in the heart of London.

The Christmas Spirit (Lucy Malleson writing as Anthony Gilbert): A quintessentially British story, full of Gothic romance, and spectres in a hunted inn. Superb!

Gold, Frankincense, and Murder (Catherine Aird): A case of mysterious food poisoning uncovers dark secrets within a small community.

Secrets in the Snow (J.Jefferson Farjeon): A headstrong young woman becomes witness to a bizarre crime, in an extremely atmospheric, bleak story.

Who Killed Father Christmas? (Patricia Moyes): A Father Christmas is murdered in a story that turns every mystery trope upside-down.

Death at Christmas (Glyn Daniel): A man narrates the horrible accident in which his friend was involved on a dark Christmas day. However, in this outstanding ghost story, nothing is as it seems…

The Christmas Train (Will Scott): A suave con man and his persecutor become allies to uncover a fraud.

Present for Ivo (Ellis Peters): A young teacher and a brilliant boy unwittingly become involved in an inspired theft.

Just keep the Christmas collections coming!

My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com/

stephenrotzschthomas's review

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

1mpossiblealice's review

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4.0

My final book of 2023 and I really enjoyed this. There were some stories I liked more than others, but only one I thought was a bit stupid, so overall a great collection. I also enjoyed that there were plenty of shorter stories in here, so you can pick the book up and read one in 10 mins at times. Another great festive collection from the BLCC.