A review by berlinbibliophile
Murder on Christmas Eve: Classic Mysteries for the Festive Season by Marjorie Bowen, Cecily Gayford, Julian Symons, Lawrence Block, John Dickson Carr, G.K. Chesterton, Val McDermid, Ellis Peters, Margery Allingham, Michael Innes, Ian Rankin

3.0

This is a book of mystery short stories set around Christmas, and like with any collection, the stories are of extremely variable quality. Some of them I really liked, like Ian Rankin's and Val McDermid's. Others were a sexist mess, like the first story in the collection, which comments on the murder victim's virginity and denigrates the murderer by calling her a stupid harpy drenched in cheap perfume. I guess if there's no substance to the story and no real motive for the murder, insults are the only way to go. Still, despite these missteps, overall I enjoyed this collection of christmas-themed mysteries.