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Book Review of Christmas is Murder: A Chilling Short Story Collection (Tony Hill and Carol Jordan, Bk 5.5)

cathyskye avatar reviewed on + 2269 more book reviews


If you like a little despair, revenge, justice, and humor along with your Christmas cakes and cookies, pick up a copy of Val McDermid's short story anthology Christmas Is Murder.

McDermid covers a lot of ground in a series of twelve stories. From St. Petersburg to Sarajevo to the highlands of Scotland and beyond, readers meet a variety of people.

From Sherlock Holmes in "Holmes for Christmas" when he and Watson search for the true king of Scotland to a Carol Jordan and Tony Hill story in "Happy Holidays," readers find themselves in many different situations and feeling many differing emotions.

There's not a weak story in the bunch. Among my favorites is the humorous "The Girl Who Killed Santa Claus" when an eight-year-old girl thinks a burglar is stealing her Christmas presents.

There are interesting tidbits to be learned in these stories, too. (I'll have to remember the item about birch trees.) If you're a crime fiction fan who's in the mood to be enlightened and entertained, Christmas Is Murder is a fine way to spend a few hours by a holiday fire.