Christmas Detective

Colorful Christmas lights dapple the family homes in the idyllic lakeside town of Sweet Haven when Jennifer Dean, a young librarian at the local elementary school, is brutally murdered. There are witnesses and her boyfriend Travis Blake confesses to the crime...but something doesn't quite add up. Blake is a third generation Army Ranger, awarded the Silver Star for his heroism in Afghanistan - how could a beloved son of this tight-knit burgh commit such a grisly deed?

Edgar Award-winning editor Otto Penzler collects more than 50 of his all-time favorite holiday crime stories - many of which are difficult or nearly impossible to find anywhere else. From classic Victorian tales by Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Thomas Hardy, to contemporary stories by Sara Paretsky and Ed McBain, this collection touches on all aspects of the holiday season, and all types of mysteries. They are suspenseful, funny, frightening, and poignant.

Ledbury, December 1892. Detective Inspector Ravenscroft looks forward to spending a quiet Christmas with his family. Then he receives news that an old friend stands accused of a brutal murder. Ravenscroft and Detective Sergeant Crabb travel to the old Worcestershire market town of Bromsgrove to investigate. But events soon take a deadly dramatic turn. As the bad weather closes in on the two detectives, Ravenscroft begins to wonder whether they will make it home for Christmas.

Siobhán O'Sullivan's hopes for a quiet Irish Christmas are dashed when the local Santa turns up dead in a carnival dunk tank of hot cocoa. Now instead of hunting down holiday gifts, she's pursuing a heartless killer. Seems the dead Santa was no angel either, stealing neighborhood dogs to guide his sleigh. But was it his holiday antics - or worse - that led to his death by chocolate?

When Victor Narraway, Thomas Pitt's close friend and former boss, and his new wife, Lady Vespasia, travel to Jerusalem for a Christmas holiday, Vespasia cannot shake the feeling that they are being watched. Then, an old man leaves a mysterious envelope for Narraway - and is murdered soon after. But it is only when the couple is ambushed the following morning that they realize they are in grave danger.

The year is 1904. Twenty-three-year-old Jemima Pitt, the daughter of Thomas Pitt, head of Britain's Special Branch, is crossing the Atlantic. She is traveling with an acquaintance, Delphinia Cardew, who is to marry the aristocratic Brent Albright in a high-society New York wedding - a grand affair that will join together two fabulously wealthy families, titans of the international financial world. But Jemima senses a mysterious shadow darkening the occasion.

Not all Christmas reunions have sugar plum fairies dancing in their heads. Some include murder. Detective Piper Brooks is as beautiful as she is outrageous. To the chagrin of her famous legal family, she disdains her Harvard law degree, declaring she prefers to be a cop. Now lead detective in Denver’s police department, her motto in the words of the irascible General Patton is “Lead me, follow me…or get the hell out of my way.” The latter being the most applicable. The newly elected District Attorney Ethan Matthews is as powerful as Piper but sports a sophisticated patina that masks...

Lonely Charles Latterly arrives at his small hotel hoping that the island's blue skies and gentle breezes will brighten his spirits. Unfortunately, there's no holiday cheer to be found among his fellow guests, who include a pompous novelist, a stuffy colonel, a dangerously ill-matched married couple, and an ailing old man. The one charming exception is orphaned teenager Candace Finbar, who takes Charles under her wing and introduces him to the island's beauty.

When a beautiful Christmas package appears on Grandmama's porch, it's much too heavy for the Christmas pudding it holds. With her family away for the holidays, Grandmama digs in to the pudding, only to find a cannon ball baked inside. Instantly, her memory flies back to a friendship she destroyed a decade before. Hoping to make amends, Grandmama travels to Surrey and joins up with her former friend's grandson to solve the murder of his grandfather - who Grandmama once loved and whose death she blamed, out of jealousy, on her friend.

Enjoy three stories of romance, mystery, and the magic of Christmas! THE OXFORD STREET COFFEE HOUSE DETECTIVES Two young women and one young man lead unobtrusive lives working at a Victorian coffee house, for the owner Mr. McDougal. But when a famous painting is stolen, they must assume their other identities--for they moonlight as apprentice detectives under the employ of Mycroft Holmes. THE ROOKS OF MISSELTHWAITE - PART 1: IN THE FORGOTTEN GARDEN Lilias Lennox and her sister Evelia have lost everything. Their parents are dead, their brother is serving in India, and now their sole ...

Christmas in Birmingham means the Frankfurt Christmas Market. Loved and hated by brummies in equal measure, it certainly makes life interesting for West Midlands Police. But when the body of a homeless man is found behind a market stall early one Sunday morning, it looks like Christmas might be cancelled for DI Zoe Finch and her team....

In the small town of Dewstow, 'tis the season for gold, frankincense, and murder... It’s Margery’s first year as kitchen manager for Summerview school and supported by her wife, Clementine, she is trying to stay focused. When a tragic accident claims the life of the music teacher during rehearsals for the Christmas concert planning, they are caught in the crossfire. Mrs Smith, the Head of Drama, becomes the prime suspect, and is desperate for the Dinner Lady Detectives to clear her name.

Olive and Jasper have never been closer—except for one thing. Jasper is still reticent about his frequent disappearances from polite society. With the holidays approaching and no paying client on the books, Olive decides to shadow Jasper when he’s unexpectedly called away. Her search brings her to Holly Hill Lodge where an eclectic group has gathered to celebrate an old-fashioned English Christmas. When the butler goes missing, Olive and Jasper must work together to solve the Christmas crime—as well as the secret Jasper hides.

Lights, Camera, Poltergeist. A Hollywood dream becomes a nightmare. Called to a movie set, Red investigates a haunting that threatens to turn a Christmas flick into a slasher film. Allied with a soulmancer, she has to save the Hollywood A-Listers from a phantom that wants souls instead of autographs. Busting ghosts is easier than laying her own personal demons to rest. With a paralyzed mentor, a sexy vampire playing hard to get, and petrifying anxiety about her own mysterious origins, Red is struggling to find the holiday spirit. Everyone wants their fifteen minutes of fame in Los Angeles, ...

December 1860. Headed for the morning shift at the Swindon Locomotive Works is an army of men pouring out of terraced houses built by the GWR, a miniature town and planned community that aims to provide for its employees from cradle to grave. Unfortunately, boilersmith Frank Rodman is headed for the grave sooner than he'd expected, or he will be once his missing head is found. Colbeck, the Railway Detective, finds his investigation into Rodman's murder mired in contradictions.

It's the Christmas season, and Mr. Timothy Cratchit, not the pious child the world thought he was, has just buried his father. He's also struggling to bury his past as a cripple and shed his financial ties to his benevolent "Uncle" Ebenezer by losing himself in the thick of London's underbelly. He boards at a brothel in exchange for teaching the mistress how to read and spends his nights dredging the Thames for dead bodies and the treasures in their pockets.

Police Officer Brooke Patterson is dedicated to her calling to help others, despite having to deal with the difficulties of being female in a male-dominated profession. To help her de-stress from her job, Brooke's friends talk her into taking a vacation the weekend before Christmas. The trio head to Clear Mountain Resort to ski, spend time at the spa, and relax. When they arrive and their suite isn't ready, the front desk clerk suggests they go on a sleigh ride-a new feature of the resort. Little does Brooke know, the last-minute activity will change her life forever. After a difficult ...

A light, cozy mystery series in a quaint Bavarian Christmas town with a fun loving, amateur female sleuth, her adorable rescue cocker spaniel, and enough garden gnomes to fill a museum. Book 1 - Deck the Santa Chloe Carson is excited for her long-awaited family reunion. But as they gather in a snow-clad village to plan their aging mother’s dream of opening a restaurant, the old lady’s habit of spreading garden gnomes around town leads to a panicked pilgrimage. And the mayhem continues when their visit to the nutcracker museum reveals Kris Kringle has come to an unmerry demise. With a ...

Help Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose solve mysteries from A to Z! This collection includes Detective Camp, Mayflower Treasure Hunt, White House White-Out, and Sleepy Hollow Sleepover.

Defense lawyer Andy Carpenter usually tries to avoid taking on new cases at all costs. But this time, he's happy - eager, even - to take the case that's just come his way. Andy's long-time friend Martha "Pups" Boyer takes in stray puppies that the local dog rescue center can't handle, raises them until they're old enough to adopt, and then finds good homes for them. Not everyone admires the work Pups does as much as Andy does, however.