I love a mystery!

Tue, 12/19/2023 - 12:30pm

Shirley Sirois

Christmas mystery books. Courtesy photo

As I sit here looking out my window, I see storm clouds forming, but no snow yet. Like so many of you I think, where did this year go? I believe it's called aging! As we move headlong into preparations for the holidays, with decorating, shopping, planning parties and trying new recipes, by the day’s end we are ready to curl up by the fire with a good Christmas Mystery. Here are a few “holiday themed” favorites.

“Hercule Poirot's Christmas” by Agatha Christie - Poirot works at solving a murder that takes place on Christmas Eve. The scene: a Country House, a slew of suspects, lots of clues and a surprise ending makes for a great story.

“The Christmas Murder Game” by Alexander Benedict - Twelve Clues, Twelve Keys, Twelve Days of Christmas. But how many will die before Twelfth Night. An annual Christmas game is the event in this fun, tense Manor House mystery.

“A Fatal Grace” by Louise Penny - Three Pines a fictional Quebec village is the perfect setting for Christmas tales. This is the second of the Inspector Gamache series. Beautiful holiday descriptions and the opening quote “Had CC de Poitiers known she was going to be murdered, she might have bought her husband Richard a Christmas present,” are typical Penny.

“The Girl Who Died” by Ragnar Jonasson - I love his Nordic theme. This is the story of Una, a desperate young teacher who takes a job in the remote fishing hamlet of Skdiar. With only two students and unfriendly locals, Una is quite lonely. As darkness descends throughout the bleak winter she is plagued by nightmares of a past tragic event, a secret no one wants revealed.

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” by Stieg Larsson - Journalist Mikael Blomkvist agrees to investigate a cold case on a remote island in winter time Sweden. His co-partner is computer hacker Lisbeth Slander. What they uncover is both sinister and unnerving.

“The Mistletoe Murders and Other Stories” by P.D. James. This is a collection of short Christmas stories. Often a favorite request.

On another note, the “ I love a mystery Book Club” just finished their annual December classic read, “Rebecca” by Daphne du Maurier and it was an over-the-moon success! The book was later made into an Oscar winning film by Alfred Hitchcock in 1940. Most did not know that du Maurier had also written another Alfred Hitchcock hit movie, “The Birds.”

Have a wonderful holiday and happy reading mystery lovers!