Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop edited by Otto Penzler ~ a Review

by Donna Huber

Thirteen festive crime stories set in New York City’s beloved mystery bookstore. The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City commissions a short story each year to send to their customers at Christmas time. The only stipulations to the story are that it is set at Christmas, there's a crime, and that the bookshop is included. Now in this anthology, those of us who have never visited the bookshop are treated to some of the best from this annual tradition.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

October 2024; HighBridge Audio; 9781696616843
audio (7h 20m), ebook, print; Christmas crime fiction

In December I try to only read Christmas books, and I've been known to overindulge in fluffy, romantic, sugary-sweet holiday novels so I like to have some "palette" cleansers. A few years ago I read a Christmas thriller with a serial killer and since then I've included a few darker crime novels set at Christmas. 

I love Christmas anthologies so when I saw this collection of crime fiction, I knew I had to check it out. 

I listened to the audiobook and it was okay. I wish that the narrators had swapped back and forth as sometimes it was difficult to know when one story ended and another started as the person reading the stories sounded the same from one story to the next. The narrators did well giving voices to the different characters when there was dialogue but when it was just the text (even when it was the thoughts of the characters) it was the same voice from one story to the next.

As for the stories, I enjoyed them. I'm familiar with a few of the authors - Laura Lippman, Jeffrey Deaver, and Thomas Perry - having read some of their other works. Interestingly, my mystery book club is going to be reading Cabaret Macabre by Tom Mead and he has a short story in this anthology.

My favorite story was the one about the very expensive bottle of cognac. It's a bit comical which was a nice change of pace as some of the earlier stories were dark and one was even a little depressing. If you enjoyed The Christmas Jigsaw Murders by Alexandra Benedict, then you will enjoy Ragnar Jonasson's A Christmas Puzzle as it features a word puzzle. If you like classic literature then there is a little tribute to Charles Dickens with a ghost story. In the short story, Dickens' final (unfinished) novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood is featured and there are mentions of Wilkie Collins. 

If you are looking for something Christmasy to read but don't really go for the Hallmark-worthy romantic novels, this anthology should be on your list.

Buy Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop at Amazon

Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour.

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