Who Killed Father Christmas? And Other Unseasonable Demises

by Patricia Moyes

Warmth. urbane charm. Clever plotting. Slyly wicked sense of humor. All these words describe the novels and short stories of Patricia Moyes, who is, in the words of Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection, one of mystery's "finest practitioners." Under the holiday tree, Who Killed Father Christmas? offers 21 mysterious gifts. Fans who recognize Moyes as the author "who put the who back into whodunit" will find parcels with traditional fairplay puzzlers. Thos who think that holidays are best taken with an ounce of cyanide will find presents filled with nefarious noels scattered everywhere, including "The Holly Wreath," a complete short detective novel. For those who suspect that English villages and exotic holidays are filled with larceny, Moyes has some brightly colored, and deceptively cheerful, surprise packages.

Genres: Christmas, Short Stories, Mystery

273 pages, Paperback

First published September 7, 1996

About the author

Moyes was born in Dublin on 19 January 1923 and was educated at Overstone girls' school in Northampton. She joined the WAAF in 1939. In 1946 Peter Ustinov hired her as technical assistant on his film School for Secrets. She became his personal assistant for the next eight years. In 1960 she wrote the screenplay for the film School for Scoundrels starring Ian Carmichael, Terry-Thomas, and Alastair Sim. She married photographer John Moyes in 1951; they divorced in 1959. She later married James Haszard, a linguist at the International Monetary Fund in The Hague. She died at her home on the island of Virgin Gorda (British Virgin Islands) on 2 August 2000.

Her mystery novels feature C.I.D. Inspector Henry Tibbett. One of them, Who Saw Her Die (Many Deadly Returns in the US) was nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1971. She also wrote several juveniles and short stories.

Series:
* Inspector Henry Tibbett Mystery

Reviews

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a perfect little book to read during busy Christmas preparations. Mostly very short (just a few pages long) mysteries, and each with a great twist at the end. A few I guessed ahead, but others really surprised and delighted me. Short enough stories (except for the last, longer one) to pick up and read one or two and then get back to the baking, decorating, wrapping, etc. Fun!

[Lisa Kucharski · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are about 5 short stories in this collection that are focused around Christmas time but the majority are not. The introductory text by the author was helpful to read; it explained how she used a compressed formula to approach writing short stories. However, as I was reading I found these to be so very different in feel to her novels. So, the main reason is that in the short stories- there isn't a detective. What we have is a killer and a victim and the circumstances when one goes after the other; which creates a really nasty aftertaste after reading through them- though the last story ends on the happiest note.

So did I enjoy it. Not so much as it was quite depressing; especially as the situations seemed dark and characters readily deciding that murder was the best option. But what I wanted and missed, was the detective. I do enjoy her novels a great deal and I really like her detective. I found it interesting that she choose to not have a detective in these shorts.

[Marsha Valance · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Who Killed Father Christmas?" offers 21 mysterious gifts. Moyes, "who put the who back into whodunit", offers parcels with traditional fair-play puzzlers, nefarious noels scattered everywhere, (including "The Holly Wreath," a complete short detective novel), as well as brightly colored, and deceptively cheerful, surprise holiday travel packages. Written with Moyes' usual warmth, urbane charm, clever plotting, and slyly wicked sense of humor.

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The quality I expected, but a little unsatisfying | I started reading Patricia Moyes in the mid-90s, when my mom passed one of the Henry Tibbett books along after completing it. I've read that whole series countless times, and wished there was more of her work to enjoy. A few years ago I discovered the existence of this collection, and put it on my wishlist. I delayed getting it myself in part because once I read it, that was it, never again could I read for the first time something she had written. But I treated myself this autumn and held the book to read during the holidays. Moyes' writing is as good as I expected it to be, she was successful with the short story structure and doesn't skimp with characterization, setting, or plot. Where I was somewhat disappointed was with how many awful people win in these stories. So many murderers get away with it, so many despicable would-be victims survive to create more misery, even awful men treating their wives like garbage and the wives submitting to it meekly and welcoming the shitty husband home to take advantage of them all over again. This all seems such a departure from the author who created the complicated but justice-loving Tibbett, and it was too bad. That said, if you like short mystery fiction, this is a strongly written collection.

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of the twenty short stories and one novella included, four stories plus the novella "The Holly Wreath" are set at Christmas. The story called "The Faithful Cat" was especially amusing. Several of the stories have very clever twists. Nothing in the collection is related to the Inspector Tibbett series.