Mystery for Christmas

by Richard Dalby (Editor)

Ghosts, murders, bizarre disappearances and journeys back through time-every conceivable type of mystery can be found within the pages of Mysteries for Christmas. Writers have long been inspired by this season of peace and goodwill to tell tales of murder, mystery and the supernatural, and the stories in this collection range from work by writers as diverse as Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy and Muriel Spark.

Foreword / Richard Dalby --
The black veil / Charles Dickens --
The banshee's warning / Mrs. J.H. Riddell --
The citizen's watch / Erckmann-Chatrian --
What the shepherd saw / Thomas Hardy --
The picture puzzle / Edward Lucas White --
Ellison's Christmas dinner / Dolf Wyllarde --
Marwood's ghost story / Marjorie Bowen --
The man who came back / Margery Lawrence --
The Chinese apple / Joseph Shearing --
Diary of a poltergeist / Ronald Duncan --
The leaf-sweeper / Muriel Spark --
The illuminated office / Derek Stanford --
The case of the seven Santas / H.R.F. Keating --
Mage of the monkeys / Sydney J. Bounds --
Nostalgia / Maggie Ross --
The reluctant murderer / Roger F. Dunkley --
Cyanide for Christmas / John S. Glasby --
The cloak of DeSouvre / Elizabeth Fancett --
The soldier / Roger Johnson --
The case of the fiery messengers / Ron Weighell --
The codex / David G. Rowlands --
Peace on earth, goodwill to most men / John Whitbourn --
Christmas rose / Mary Williams

Genres: Christmas, Short Stories, Mystery, Horror, Anthologies, Crime

292 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Richard Dalby (1949-2017) was an editor and literary researcher.

Reviews

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The most interesting stories are at the historical end of the book. They are a Thomas Hardy appropriately about a shepherd boy and a dark deed on the hill, and a Dolf Wyllarde traveller's tale of old Persia during a famine. There's also an Erckmann-Chatrian story of travelling musicians in the Black Forest.
The newer stories include motor-cars and acids and are quite standard. Even a word-processor. The descriptions of foods for Christmas dinner may be the nicest part.

[Ethan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoy this book and how interesting and suspenseful the stories are in the book, you never know what’s coming next and the endings are very surprising. In the banshees warning the ending has you shocked because nobody expected it. If you have extra time on your hands this is a wonderful book to read :) 👍

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good selection of short stories, some better than others. I like that they range from 19th century through to the late twentieth. There's one in particular that has M. R. James bringing a case to Sherlock Holmes that was especially fun.

[Donald Krage · Rating 1 out of 5]

could not get into it

[Bambi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was enjoying this atmospheric anthology and now it is misplaced; perhaps lost.

Thought the book was in my van when it broke down but the van is back and the book is not. :(

YAY!! I did find it in the van, after all, but not until after Christmas. Will probably get back into reading it sometime this month, though or put it back on the shelf for next November/December. I always have such grand reading plans for November/December but it is humanly impossible to read every Christmas - themed book new and classic in just two months.