Crime for Christmas

Vic Varallo Mystery #12

by Lesley Egan

Another in the author's series of police procedurals set in Glendale, California. NOT BCE. NOT ex-lib. A FIRST EDITION, First Printing from the Crime Club, with original $11.95 price on front DJ flap

Genres: Mystery, Christmas, Procedural

178 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

A pseudonym used by Elizabeth Linington.

Reviews

[Lisa Kucharski · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s the few weeks up to Christmas and the police are doing their best to track down drugs, murders, and a series of burglaries that did end up killing one lady. It’s also a time for animals to move into the precinct!

A busy and interesting read that really feels like can the world be brought to some order before Christmas! A quick read and one that really gives you the feel for the type of crimes that occur on a continuous basis, but told through human eyes. First time reading Lesley Egan and I will certainly get more of her books.

[S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another enjoyable Dell Shannon...ops, Leslie Egan book.

This one is sort of a downer, as we follow the life of Delia Riordan, police woman following the death of her father, and the flooding of the Glendale police station with a pregnant cat, a mouthy macaw, and a dog homesick for his dead master.

[Marsha Valance · Rating 3 out of 5]

Detectives Delia Riordan, Charles O'Connor, and Vic Varallo of the Glendale, California, Police Department investigate a series of robberies, seven jewelry store hold-ups, and two brutal murders during the holiday season.

[Della Tingle · Rating 2 out of 5]

The cover of this book is fabulous! It looks so nice on my shelf of Christmas books, but oh! Oh! Oh! Unless you simply love profanity and taking the Lord’s name in vain repeatedly, this is not the book for you! Instead of focusing on one crime, this book offers a glimpse of the day-in day-out life of police detectives with multiple crimes occurring throughout the book. Some of which have resolutions; some of which do not. There were some thrilling moments as well as some funny ones. I loved the end! However, I can’t get past the language. It is truly abominable and completely ruins the entire book for me.

[Denise Spicer · Rating 3 out of 5]

California cops investigate and sometimes solve crimes in this police procedural published in 1983. Jewelry stores and elderly homeowners are some of the targets and a wealthy widow goes missing. The detectives are kept busy during an unusually rainy Christmas Season.