Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop
Otto Penzler
(Editor)
21,000+ Reviews
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Description
The oldest mystery specialty bookstore in the world, The Mysterious Bookshop, has for most of its forty-five-year history commissioned an original short story as a holiday gift for its customers. Written exclusively for the store and never published elsewhere, the stories were given as a holiday gift to its customers as a thank you for their business, handed out or mailed between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day.The prompt for the story requires three elements: that it be set at Christmastime, that it involve a crime of some kind, or the suspicion of one, and that it be set at least partially in the bookstore. And from these loose structural guidelines, diverse tales took flight. The dozen tales included in this volume are among the finest to be produced in this annual tradition, sure to charm any reader looking for a holiday-themed escape.
Included herein are the ingenious "Snowflake Time" by Laura Lippman; Lyndsay Faye's tale of vengeance "A Midnight Clear"; the challenging brainteaser, "A Christmas Puzzle," by Ragnar Jónasson; "Hester's Gift," an impossible crime story by Tom Mead; the suspenseful "The Christmas Party" by Jeffery Deaver; Thomas Perry's hilarious comedy of errors, "Here We Come A-Wassailing;" and other tales appropriate for the season, collected and introduced by Otto Penzler. The result is, objectively speaking, the finest "stocking stuffer" that a mystery fan could hope to find.
Product Details
Price
$19.95
$18.55
Publisher
Mysterious Press
Publish Date
October 22, 2024
Pages
288
Dimensions
5.1 X 7.1 X 1.2 inches | 0.9 pounds
Language
English
Type
Hardcover
EAN/UPC
9781613165720
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Become an affiliateAbout the Author
Otto Penzler, the creator of American Mystery Classics, is also the founder of The Mysterious Press (1975); MysteriousPress.com (2011), an electronic-book publishing company; and New York City's Mysterious Bookshop (1979). He has won a Raven, the Ellery Queen Award, two Edgars (for the Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection, 1977, and The Lineup, 2010), and lifetime achievement awards from NoirCon and The Strand Magazine. He has edited more than 70 anthologies and written extensively about mystery fiction.
Reviews
Each tale's brevity makes it easy to dip into and out of the collection, and the mix of big names . . . with lesser-knowns offers a spirited survey of contemporary crime fiction.-- "Publishers Weekly" (8/7/2024 12:00:00 AM)
The stories are all refreshingly good-natured and, in the spirit of the season, lean toward peace on earth and good will to most. A must for every mystery lover's wish list.-- "Kirkus" (9/14/2024 12:00:00 AM)
The stories are all refreshingly good-natured and, in the spirit of the season, lean toward peace on earth and good will to most. A must for every mystery lover's wish list.-- "Kirkus" (9/14/2024 12:00:00 AM)