Books in December and Pick of the Month

In December I read a mix of crime fiction and straight fiction.  I enjoyed my forays into non-mystery fiction. The Man-Eater of Malgudi is set in India and written by an Indian author. Mr. Ives' Christmas tells the story of a man who has experienced a great loss, and how he deals with the loss. Both were very different reading experiences for me.

These are the nine books I read in December...

1. The Hanging Judge by Michael Ponsor
2. Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis 
3. Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie
4. Murder in Belleville by Cara Black
5. A Night of Long Knives by Rebecca Cantrell
6. I Am Half-Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley
7. The Man-Eater of Malgudi by R. K. Narayan
8. Mr. Ives' Christmas by Oscar Hijuelos
9. The Holiday Murders by Robert Gott

I read four books that had a Christmas theme. That is to say, they were set at Christmas and Christmas played into the story to at least a small extent. But none of them were really Christmassy and uplifting. Which is fine. Three of them were obvious from the title. The fourth is I Am Half-Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley. This is an historical mystery set in post-World War II England, and features an acting group at a snowed-in country house.

I just finished The Holiday Murders by Robert Gott and have not had time to write a review. It takes place from Christmas Eve to New Year's Day, and no one in this book is in the Christmas holiday spirit. It is set during World War II in Australia, and it was an eye-opener to read about the situation in Australia at that time. Another thing I love about crime fiction: the chance to learn about different places and different times. I liked The Holiday Murders a lot, although there were some grisly scenes toward the end.

My crime fiction pick of the month is A Night of Long Knives by Rebecca Cantrell. This is the second book in a four book series, set in Germany in the 1930's prior to World War II. This book takes place in 1934, in the cities of Munich and Berlin.

The story is told in first person, by Hannah. She is headstrong and independent, and willing to take risks. As the book's title indicates, the events of this book are intertwined with the Nazi purge called the Night of the Long Knives.

The Crime Fiction Pick of the Month meme is hosted at Mysteries in Paradise. Bloggers link to a summary post for the month, and identify a crime fiction best read of the month.