Christmas Crime Round-Up 2023
By John Valeri
December 15, 2023
First, Lisa Unger bestows upon us Christmas Presents—an original novella from The Mysterious Press. A decade ago, in upstate New York, high schooler Madeline Martin—now an indie bookstore owner and caretaker to her father (the former Sheriff)—was the only survivor of serial killer (and teenage crush) Evan Hardy. She’s worked hard to put the past to rest only to see it dug up when a famed podcaster comes to town, looking to reinvigorate the case. Not surprisingly, dirt and bullets fly, striking uncomfortably close and revising an intimate history she only thought she knew. While the press materials would have you believe that Unger “ruins Christmas” with this twisted little tale of ill-fated families, friendships, and false narratives, it’ll positively make the holidays for her many fans, who now have a tantalizing new trifle to devour. As a bonus: the few bookstore scenes will delight bibliophiles!
The self-professed “greatest detective in the world” (probably, he would qualify) returns in Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night. Sophie Hannah’s fifth addition to the Agatha Christie canon finds Poirot and his faithful sidekick (and scribe), Inspector Edward Catchpool, looking forward to a quiet holiday at Whitehaven Mansions. Their reverie is interrupted when Catchpool’s overbearing mother comes calling, imploring them to travel to Norfolk, where one unsolved (and ingeniously baffling) murder may lead to another. It’s the quintessential manor house mystery—complete with head-bashings, poisoning, and . . . Christmas trees—in which Poirot must use the entirety of his little grey cells to arrive at the big reveal. But even then, one question remains: will he and Catchpool make it home for the holidays? The tradition of “a Christie for Christmas” lives on in Hannah’s capably cunning hands.
Another manor house mystery of sorts unravels in Peter Swanson’s novella, The Christmas Guest. Told through traditional prose and diary entries that date back thirty-plus years, Ashley Smith recalls the holiday she spent as an American art student in London, when she was invited to a peer’s opulent home for Christmas week. But the warmth of fire and flirtation couldn’t overcome the chill of speculation and suspicion stemming from the (unsolved) slaying of a young village girl. Decades later, the consequences of that event threaten to reach all the way from London to present-day New York, where Ashley finds that the past is an unwelcome yet undeniable visitor. A clever contrast of lightness and dark, and merriment and misery, this slender volume comes perfectly packaged for presentation.
Fans of Janice Hallett’s internationally bestselling epistolary mystery The Appeal will rejoice in the return of the feuding Fairway Players (if in a different configuration, given the deadly events of the last book). It’s Christmastime in London’s Lower Lockwood, and the amateur thespians are staging a benefit panto of Jack and the Beanstalk. But when a dead body dressed as Santa falls out of the (possibly asbestos-stuffed) beanstalk during their opening (and only) performance, their constant squabbles and scheming escalate to accusations and finger-pointing in this laugh-out-loud comedy of (t)errors, told through emails, letters, texts, and transcripts as two lawyers attempt to ferret out the truth. A quick, quirky read in which the characters (deliberately) overshadow questions.
Andreina Cordani’s first adult novel, The Twelve Days of Murder, also features an ensemble cast of lay performers. Twelve years ago, The Masquerade Murder Society—a mostly privileged group of eight collegiate friends (or maybe frenemies is the more appropriate term?)—put on a fateful (fictional) whodunit, during which one of the members disappeared from a locked room, never to be seen again. Now, they’ve reunited in the Scottish Highlands for one last hoorah only to find that somebody is picking them off one by one, each killing inspired by a verse from “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” Told through alternating perspectives and time periods, resentments and rivalries come to a head as the scripted drama becomes a spontaneous game of survival.
A more perverse (but entirely pleasurable) option is Brian McAuley’s Candy Cain Kills (Killer VHS Series #2), which celebrates the horror films of yore by evoking a cinematic, 90s slasher vibe. In 1995, the churchgoing Thornton family—mother, father, and two daughters—perished in a tragic Christmas morning fire at their secluded cottage in the mountains. Ten years later, angsty teen Austin and his precocious sister, Fiona, find themselves winter breaking in the Thornton’s (restored) home, where their parents have decreed some much needed (but wholly unwanted) bonding time. Ironically, a mythical killer in their midst serves as the catalyst for reconciliation as history repeats itself to gloriously gory effect. It’s Silent Night, Deadly Night meets Scream in this fiendish, frightfully fun found-footage story.
Read the full review of Candy Cain Kills
Speaking of Silent Night, Deadly Night: The cult classic film finally gets an official novelization, nearly forty years after its theatrical release. Following the positive reception of last year’s My Bloody Valentine, Armando Muñoz (Hoarder, Turkey Day) has once again teamed with Stop the Killer to offer a more expansive take on the source material. Eighteen-year-old Billy—who witnessed his parents’ murders at the hands of a man dressed as Santa Claus, after which he was shipped off to a Catholic orphanage—is made to don the infamous red suit for his first job. This triggers a bloody rampage against all those he deems to have been naughty, including a certain Mother Superior who may just find that punishment is a gift that can be given and received. An online exclusive, the book comes with additional first-printing goodies while supplies last.
For those who prefer killings of a cozier nature, Kensington presents their annual trifecta of thematic tales. This year’s anthology, Christmas Mittens Murder, features contributions from Lee Hollis (who assumes top billing), Lynn Cahoon, and Maddie Day. As the title suggests, each story incorporates mittens (or mitten makers) as clues to the crimes at (ahem) hand, albeit in decidedly different ways. From snowy Bar Harbor, Maine and Magic Springs, Idaho to sunny California, bodies are turning up dead—and three intrepid amateur sleuths show their goodwill by taking up the mantle of justice. All satisfying as standalone reads, the stories also serve as primers to the authors’ series—and there are even a few recipes included to whet your appetite. A word of caution: You may never look at gloves the same way again!
And that’s a wrap (groan) on this year’s yuletide round-up. Please do have your shelves a merry little Christmas—and allow me to wish you happy reading, now and in the New Year.