Murder Most Merry

INTRODUCTION

The Yuletide season has proven irresistible ground for mystery writers, and Murder Most Merry is a collection of the best in Christmas crimes. These 32 stories from Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine span from hard-boiled police procedurals to cozy mysteries to fantasy adventures. With mysteries embracing sentiments ranging from world-weary cynicism to uplifting joy, this collection provides a holiday feast for mystery fans.

On his “Santa Claus Beat,” Rex Stout’s Art Hippie pines for a Christmas Eve murder truly befitting the season. In John D. MacDonald’s story, a young woman ends up “Dead on Christmas Street,” and the cops corner the desperate murderer using unconventional resources. Robert Turner offers a “Christmas Gift” anyone would be pleased to receive, and solving mysteries means more than just finding criminals when we go along with “Inspector Tierce and the Christmas Visits,” by Jeffry Scott.

Professional thief Nick Velvet welcomes the holiday spirit when he attempts “The Theft of the Christmas Stocking,” by Edward D. Hoch, while Thomas Larry Adcock’s “Christmas Cop” stumbles across a gang of criminals who understand that it is better to give than to receive.

In a trio of tales featuring the bespectacled Mr. Albert Campion, Margery Allingham explores the darker side of the human spirit and lifts it into the light. “On Christmas Day in the Morning,” an elderly woman embraces the enduring love and promise of Christmas in the face of life’s tragedies. When there’s “Murder Under the Mistletoe,” an old acquaintance of Campion’s draws on his expertise to solve an impossible crime. And, “The Case is Altered” on holiday in the country, when Campion explores a series of peculiar events.

From the first perplexing and then intriguing “Supper With Miss Shivers,” by Peter Lovesey, to the “Christmas Party” with a twist by Martin Werner, to “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle” classic by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, here are Christmas crimes every mystery reader will love to unwrap, one clue at a time.

Abigail Browning April 2002