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ayami's review against another edition
4.0
A decent collection of Christmas themed murder mysteries. As is usually the case, some short stories are better than the others. I thoroughly enjoyed especially the pieces by Ngaio Marsh, Dorothy L. Sayers and John Collier.
k8s's review against another edition
3.0
The quality of the stories in this anthology was really mixed. While there were some really great stories in it, there were other that put me to sleep. The only reason I made it through the whole anthology was that I didn't want to miss out on the good stories.
judyward's review against another edition
3.0
I love mysteries, short stories, and Christmas. Put those three things together and I'm in hog heaven. These 26 short stories by some of the masters of the classic mystery genre were an entertaining break from holiday preparations. Of particular delight were the illustrations by Gahan Wilson. Classic holiday fun.
vickimarie2002's review against another edition
4.0
I finally read this whole book!! I have probably owned it for 25 years. My mom got this for me when I was about 10 or so and it was too much for me. The stories were written around the 30’s or earlier and a lot of English authors. Some of them were still hard for me to focus on but there were also some really good stories. It was a fun way to celebrate the Christmas holiday. I read it like an advent calendar.
bev_reads_mysteries's review against another edition
4.0
As with all short story collections, Murder for Christmas (1982; edited by Thomas Godfrey) is a mixed bag--with treasures that you'll thank Santa for as well as items that you'll wish you could take back to the store for cash value. It was lovely to reread familiar favorites starring Lord Peter Wimsey, Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Nero Wolfe, and Inspector Roderick Alleyn. And there were several new (to me) stories that were very intriguing--including the opening story, "Back for Christmas" by John Collieer in which a murderer may not want to come back for Christmas, but may have no choice in the matter. Others on Santa's nice list are "Silent Night" by Baynard Kendrick, "A Christmas Tragedy" by Baroness Orczy, and "Blind Man's Hood" by Carter Dickson (though more a Christmas ghost story). Most of the rest were pleasant enough, though not outstanding. But I really could have done without "Markheim" by Robert Louis Stevenson, "Mother's Milk" by James Mines, and the last story in the collection--"Ring Out, Wild Bells" by D. B. Wyndham Lewis (a "Boxing Day Bonus" as Godfrey refers to it).
The illustrations by Gahan Wilson were delightful as were the anecdotes, introductions, and intermissions provided by Godfrey. This was, overall, a nice way to round off the holidays and finish out the year's reading.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
The illustrations by Gahan Wilson were delightful as were the anecdotes, introductions, and intermissions provided by Godfrey. This was, overall, a nice way to round off the holidays and finish out the year's reading.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
thecommonswings's review against another edition
4.0
It’s taken me quite a while to get through this monster of a collection, partly because it’s a big volume and partly because it’s rather too rich to read all in one go. Some stories work better than others, but I admire how it goes from the classics - Blue Carbuncle, a Nero Wolfe novelette - to some comic moments via a couple of unexpected classic writers as well. I suspect it will now serve in the way it was designed to serve, as a book to dip into to read certain classics during the festive period (much like my wife’s horror collection which I believe is a companion volume to this), as I think smatterings throughout Christmas as a buffet will work better than as a substantial and rather over laden meal in one go
laurav's review against another edition
5.0
I got this book as a gift last Christmas. It’s a collection of 26 stories: one for each day of Christmas plus a “Boxing Day Bonus.” This year, I read a story a day and enjoyed it very much. Each story was good, I liked basically all of them. I don’t think there was one that I didn’t like, but there were several that stood out as my favorites:
Mr. Big by Woody Allen
The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding by Agatha Christie
A Chaparral Christmas Gifty by O. Henry
To Be Taken With A Grain Of Salt by Charles Dickens
The Adventure of the Dauphin’s Doll by Ellery Queen
The Necklace of Pearls by Dorothy L. Sayers
Blind Man’s Hood by Carter Dickson (Probably my absolute favorite out of all of them–it was so well done and creepy)
Christmas Party by Rex Stout (My second favorite; love the Nero Wolfe stories)
Mother’s Milk by James Mines
Overall, I really enjoyed the collection of stories, and I’ll probably re-read a few for Christmas next year.
Mr. Big by Woody Allen
The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding by Agatha Christie
A Chaparral Christmas Gifty by O. Henry
To Be Taken With A Grain Of Salt by Charles Dickens
The Adventure of the Dauphin’s Doll by Ellery Queen
The Necklace of Pearls by Dorothy L. Sayers
Blind Man’s Hood by Carter Dickson (Probably my absolute favorite out of all of them–it was so well done and creepy)
Christmas Party by Rex Stout (My second favorite; love the Nero Wolfe stories)
Mother’s Milk by James Mines
Overall, I really enjoyed the collection of stories, and I’ll probably re-read a few for Christmas next year.
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