X is for Xmas, A Murder for

 

A Murder for Christmas was the fourth STAC Mystery, and it’s the last one to be detailed in this year’s A-Z Blog Challenge.

I originally self-published it in November 2011, but as with A Halloween Homicide, the rights passed to Crooked Cat in the latter part of 2012, and it was reissued with a new cover under their imprint.

This was the novel by which the early STAC Mysteries came of age. A clutch of red herrings, several possible motives, and a subplot which revolved around the Middleton Penny, a rare and valuable coin, which was stolen from a church in South Leeds. I grew up and spent the first quarter century of my life less than half a mile from that church. My daughter was christened there.

The events of A Murder for Christmas take place in the fictitious Regency Hotel in the centre of Leeds over the Christmas period, and as usual grumpy Joe is on fine form.

In the following extract, Sheila and Brenda have dragged him all over Leeds Christmas shopping and he’s worn out by the time they get to the cafeteria of a large department store.

 

They tried several cafés on Vicar Lane and Boar Lane before turning back up Briggate and eventually deciding on Debenhams.

“You get us a table, Joe,” Sheila had suggested, “and Brenda and I will queue up.”

It was non-starter. The queue was so long that the management were refusing to allow anyone through to the tables until they were served.

“Leave it to me,” Joe told them, and doubled up convincingly as if he were struggling to breathe and walk.

Taking his cue, Sheila went into negotiation with the manager. “Excuse me. I’m sorry to be a nuisance, but my friend is disabled, and he’s suffering a little. Would it be possible for him to sit while I queue up for him?”

The manager took instant pity on them, and agreed to make an exception in Joe’s case. Under the envious eyes of some in the queue, he took their mound of purchases, and helped Joe through the multitude to a table by the window, where he now sat, resting his aching bones, waiting for his two companions, with only a grumpy woman behind and her male companion for company.

Even through the noise of the café, the sound of the Salvation Army playing Oh Come All Ye Faithful out in the street still reached his ears. The pavements heaved with people, one or two Santas stood in shop doorways welcoming customers, and those same doorways were packed with slow-moving whirlpools of humanity fighting their way in or out. And yet there did not appear to be much friction. It was as if everyone had taken on the seasonal air of peace and goodwill. Despite the comparatively early hour, the Christmas lights were on, dispelling the overcast gloom and bringing a feeling of good cheer to the retail revellers.

All except Joe. He passed the 20 minutes or so waiting for Sheila and Brenda by ringing the Lazy Luncheonette and hassling Cheryl (again) until she tired of his whining and cut the connection.

For want of something to occupy his mind, he checked the queue again and the pangs of hunger grew in his belly. At least Sheila and Brenda were almost at the checkout.

“All I’m asking is that you give me what I’ve earned. What I have a right to expect.”

Listening to the woman sat behind him, Joe was almost relieved to know that he was not the only one in a foul mood. He half turned in his seat, and demanded, “Are you talking to me?”

She glowered first at her companion, a tanned, stocky man whom Joe guessed to be in his fifties, and then at Joe. “Mind your own bloody business.”

It was for moments like that Joe treasured his high threshold of embarrassment and sheer neck. He feared nothing and no one, and if rudeness was the order of the day, he was more than capable of matching it.

“You know when people wish you a merry Christmas?” he asked. “Are they being sarcastic?” He cast a glance at the tanned man sat opposite her. “And you should do yourself a favour, pal. Suicide. It’s cheaper than divorce.”

***

A Murder for Christmas is available as a paperback and as an e-book downloads in all formats, or direct from Crooked Cat Books in MOBI, EPUB and PDF formats