The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries

The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries
Author: Otto Penzler
Publisher: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
Total Pages: 674
Release: 2013-10-22
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0345802985

The Edgar Award-winning editor collects sixty of his all-time favorite holiday crime stories—from Arthur Conan Doyle and Thomas Hardy, to Sara Paretsky and Ed McBain. • “Anyone who cares about the best mystery writing of the past century and beyond would be lucky to receive this thick volume during the holidays." —The Washington Post This collection touches on all aspects of the holiday season, and all types of mysteries. They are suspenseful, funny, frightening, and poignant. Included are puzzles by Mary Higgins Clark, Isaac Asimov, and Ngaio Marsh; uncanny tales in the tradition of A Christmas Carol by Peter Lovesey and Max Allan Collins; O. Henry-like stories by Stanley Ellin and Joseph Shearing, stories by pulp icons John D. MacDonald and Damon Runyon; comic gems from Donald E. Westlake and John Mortimer; and many, many more. Almost any kind of mystery you’re in the mood for--suspense, pure detection, humor, cozy, private eye, or police procedural—can be found in these pages. FEATURING: - Unscrupulous Santas - Crimes of Christmases Past and Present - Festive felonies - Deadly puddings - Misdemeanors under the mistletoe - Christmas cases for classic characters including Sherlock Holmes, Brother Cadfael, Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, Ellery Queen, Rumpole of the Bailey, Inspector Morse, Inspector Ghote, A.J. Raffles, and Nero Wolfe.

A Mystery for Christmas - Anthology of Thriller Novels & Detective Stories

A Mystery for Christmas - Anthology of Thriller Novels & Detective Stories
Author: Charles Dickens
Publisher: DigiCat
Total Pages: 9591
Release: 2022-11-13
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

DigiCat presents to you a collection of the greatest mystery cases and puzzles for you to solve and relax with during Christmas and winter holidays: Agatha Christie: The Mysterious Affair at Styles The Murder on the Links The Kidnapped Prime Minister The Million Dollar Bond Robbery The Secret Adversary R. Austin Freeman: Dr. Thorndyke's Cases The Adventures of Dr. Thorndyke Dr. Thorndyke's Casebook Arthur Conan Doyle: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes A Study in Scarlet The Sign of Four The Hound of the Baskervilles The Valley of Fear A. E. W. Mason: At the Villa Rose The Affair at the Semiramis Hotel Mary Roberts Rinehart: The Circular Staircase The Amazing Adventures of Letitia Carberry Tish – The Chronicle of Her Escapades and Excursions More Tish Edgar Allan Poe: The Murders in the Rue Morgue The Mystery of Marie Rogêt The Purloined Letter Charles Dickens: Hunted Down Wilkie Collins: The Moonstone The Woman in White The Haunted Hotel Robert Barr: The Triumph of Eugéne Valmont Jennie Baxter, Journalist The Adventures of Sherlaw Kombs The Adventure of the Second Swag E. W. Hornung: The Amateur Cracksman The Black Mask; or, Raffles: Further Adventures A Thief in the Night Mr. Justice Raffles John Kendrick Bangs: Mrs. Raffles R. Holmes & Co Melville Davisson Post: The Sleuth of St. James's Square Edgar Wallace: The Four Just Men The Clue of the Twisted Candle Victor L. Whitechurch: The Canon in Residence Anna Katharine Green: The Leavenworth Case A Strange Disappearance The Mystery of the Hasty Arrow That Affair Next Door Lost Man's Lane The Circular Study G. K. Chesterton: The Innocence of Father Brown The Wisdom of Father Brown The Donnington Affair Ellis Parker Butler: Philo Gubb Correspondence-School Detective Maurice Leblanc: Arsene Lupin The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsene Lupin Mabel & Paul Thorne: The Sheridan Road Mystery Marion Harvey: The Mystery of the Hidden Room Grace Livingston Hill: The Mystery of Mary

Murder After Christmas

Murder After Christmas
Author: Rupert Latimer
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2022-10-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1728261236

"[Murder After Christmas] supplies cheerfully calculating relatives, decorously brutal dialogue, and a fiendishly intricate set of Chinese boxes before the surprising reveal...no, they don't make them like this anymore."—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review "A war's on and a murder has been committed—and we sit here talking nonsense about almond whirls and mince pies!" Good old Uncle Willie—known for an insatiable sweet tooth and being an epic pain in the rear—has come to stay with the Redpaths for the holidays. As luck would have it, he's found dead in the snow, in a Santa suit on Boxing Day. It seems as though someone may have poisoned his chocolate...or was it the mince pie? As the police flock to the house, Willie's descendants, past lovers and distant relatives are drawn into a perplexing investigation to find out how the old man met his fate, and who stands to gain by such an unseasonable crime. First published in 1944, Murder After Christmas is a lively riot of murder, holiday desserts, and misdirection, cleverly twisting the tropes of Golden Age detective fiction to create a pacey, light-hearted package admirably suited for the holiday season. Featuring an introduction by CWA Diamond Dagger Award-winning author and series editor Martin Edwards.

Silent Nights

Silent Nights
Author: Martin Edwards
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
Total Pages: 647
Release: 2015-11-03
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1464205000

Mystery crime fiction written in the Golden Age of Murder "Like an assortment of presents under a Christmas tree, there's something for everyone in this Yule-themed reprint anthology in the British Library Crime Classics series from Edwards." —Publishers Weekly Christmas is a mysterious, as well as magical, time of year. Strange things can happen, and this helps to explain the hallowed tradition of telling ghost stories around the fireside as the year draws to a close. Christmas tales of crime and detection have a similar appeal. When television becomes tiresome, and party games pall, the prospect of curling up in the warm with a good mystery is enticing—and much better for the digestion than yet another helping of plum pudding. Crime writers are just as susceptible as readers to the countless attractions of Christmas. Over the years, many distinguished practitioners of the genre have given one or more of their stories a Yuletide setting. The most memorable Christmas mysteries blend a lively storyline with an atmospheric evocation of the season. Getting the mixture right is much harder than it looks. This book introduces of readers to some of the finest Christmas detective stories of the past. Martin Edwards' selection blends festive pieces from much-loved authors with one or two stories which are likely to be unfamiliar even to diehard mystery fans. The result is a collection of crime fiction to savor, whatever the season.

A Surprise for Christmas and Other Seasonal Mysteries

A Surprise for Christmas and Other Seasonal Mysteries
Author: Martin Edwards
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2021-10-12
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1464214824

"Exceptional fourth anthology of golden age Christmas-themed mysteries"—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review A Postman murdered while delivering cards on Christmas morning. A Christmas pine growing over a forgotten homicide. A Yuletide heist gone horribly wrong. When there's as much murder as magic in the air and the facts seem to point to the impossible, it's up to the detective's trained eye to unwrap the clues and neatly tie together an explanation (preferably with a bow on top). Martin Edwards has once again gathered the best of these seasonal stories into a stellar anthology brimming with rare tales, fresh as fallen snow, and classics from the likes of Julian Symons, Margery Allingham, Anthony Gilbert and Cyril Hare. A most welcome surprise indeed, and perfect to be shared between super-sleuths by the fire on a cold winter's night.

Mystery Midrash

Mystery Midrash
Author: Lawrence W. Raphael
Publisher: Jewish Lights Publishing
Total Pages: 305
Release: 1999
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1580230555

Confront murder, mayhem--and your own mysteries of being. From a corporate giant's kidnapping of a rabbi, to the disappearance of the clarinetist in a klezmer band, to four rabbis' use of their text interpretation skills to help a detective solve a murder that one of them has committed, this unique collection of mysteries will enlighten you at the same time it intrigues and entertains. While featuring enough death and deception to keep the detective protagonists on their toes, each story presents the uncertainties that are a part of contemporary Jewish identity--inviting us all to confront our own mysteries of being. Throughout the stories' tangled puzzles and suspenseful adventures, the characters solve not only the "whodunit"-type mysteries, but also struggle to solve the mystery of their spiritual lives. Mystery Midrash will be a lasting delight for mystery buffs of all faith traditions. Contributors include: Joel Siegel * Lawrence W. Raphael * Toni Brill * Howard Engel * Richard Fliegel * Michael A. Kahn * Stuart M. Kaminsky * Faye Kellerman * Ronald Levitsky * Ellen Rawlings * Rabbi Bob Sloan * Janice Steinberg * James Yaffe * Batya Swift Yasgur

The Big Book of Victorian Mysteries

The Big Book of Victorian Mysteries
Author: Otto Penzler
Publisher: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
Total Pages: 1439
Release: 2021-10-19
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0593315804

Edgar Award winner Otto Penzler—“detective fiction’s best editor and champion” (The Washington Post)—returns with a new anthology of exhilarating mysteries, assembling Victorian society's lords and ladies and most miserable miscreants Behind the velvet curtains of horsedrawn carriages and amid the soft glow of the gaslights are the detectives and bobbies sniffing out the safecrackers and petty purloiners who plague everything from the soot-covered side streets of London to the opulent manors of the countryside. With his latest title in the Big Book series, Otto Penzler is cracking cases and serving up the most thrilling, suspenseful Victorian mysteries. This collection brings together incredible stories from Arthur Conan Doyle, Thomas Hardy, Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, and Guy de Maupassant among other legendary writers of the grand era of the British Empire. So brush off your dinner jackets and straighten out your ball gowns for these exciting, glitzy mysteries. A VINTAGE CRIME/BLACK LIZARD ORIGINAL

Golden Age Detective Stories

Golden Age Detective Stories
Author: Otto Penzler
Publisher: National Geographic Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2021-07-13
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1613162154

The greatest detectives of the Golden Age investigate the most puzzling crimes of the era Sometimes, the police aren’t the best suited to solve a crime. Depending on the case, you may find that a retired magician, a schoolteacher, a Broadway producer, or a nun have the necessary skills to suss out a killer. Or, in other cases, a blind veteran, or a publisher, or a hard-drinking attorney, or a mostly-sober attorney… or, indeed, any sort of detective you could think of might be able to best the professionals when it comes to comprehending strange and puzzling murders. At least, that’s what the authors from the Golden Age of American mystery fiction would have you think. For decades in the middle of the twentieth century, the country’s best-selling authors produced delightful tales in which all types of eccentrics used rarified knowledge to interpret confounding clues. And for even longer, in the decades that have followed, these characters have continued to entertain new audiences with every new generation that discovers them. Edgar Award-winning anthologist Otto Penzler selects some of the greatest American short stories from era. With authors including Ellery Queen, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Cornell Woolrich, Erle Stanley Gardner, and Anthony Boucher, this collection is a treat for those who know and love this celebrated period in literary history, and a great introduction to its best writers for the uninitiated. Includes discussion guide questions for use in book clubs.

The Black Lizard Big Book of Locked-Room Mysteries

The Black Lizard Big Book of Locked-Room Mysteries
Author: Otto Penzler
Publisher: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
Total Pages: 962
Release: 2014-10-28
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0307743969

The Most Complete Collection of Impossible Crime Stories Ever Assembled, with puzzling mysteries by Stephen King, Dashiell Hammett, Lawrence Block, Agatha Christie, Georges Simenon, Dorothy L. Sayers, P. G. Wodehouse, Erle Stanley Gardner, and many, many more THE BLACK LIZARD BIG BOOK OF LOCKED-ROOM MYSTERIES: An empty desert, a lonely ski slope, a gentleman’s study, an elevator car—nowhere is a crime completely impossible. Edgar Award–winning editor Otto Penzler has collected sixty-eight of the all-time best impossible-crime stories from almost two hundred years of the genre. In addition to the many classic examples of the form—a case of murder in a locked room or otherwise inaccessible place, solved by a brilliant sleuth—this collection expands the definition of the locked room to include tales of unbelievable thefts and incredible disappearances. Among these pages you’ll find stories with evocative titles like “The Flying Death”, “The Man From Nowhere”, “A Terribly Strange Bed”, and “The Theft of the Bermuda Penny”, not to mention appearances by some of the cleverest characters in all of crime, including Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, Georges Simenon’s Jules Maigret, Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot, Dashiell Hammett’s Continental Op, and many more. Featuring • Unconventional means of murder • Pilfered jewels • Shocking solutions Includes • Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”, the first detective story and the first locked-room mystery • Masters of the short story form: Edward D. Hoch, Ellery Queen, Carter Dickson, and Stanley Ellin A VINTAGE CRIME/BLACK LIZARD ORIGINAL