This is my second post on stories from Crimson Snow: Winter Mysteries, edited by Martin Edwards. This anthology of vintage crime stories was published by the British Library in 2016.
I have now read all the stories in the book. For the most part they were all entertaining, with some better than others.
The last story in Crimson Snow is "The Carol Singers" by Josephine Bell. This was my first experience reading anything by Bell, and I was encouraged to try more of her writing.
It is a dark, sad story of an elderly woman spending Christmas alone because her daughter's children have chicken pox. On Christmas Eve, two sets of carolers visit her home after dark, and she has misgivings about opening the door to them. As it turns out, with good reason.
This story isn't really a mystery to the reader because we know what has occurred and who perpetrated the crime. It is more focused on how the investigation is carried out with very little evidence. The story begins before Christmas and it take several days to solve the crime.
This is one of the longer stories in the book, at 40 pages. The length is put to good use with more character development than usual, and more depth of plot.
See my earlier post about two other stories in the book here. See George Kelley's review for additonal comments on the stories and a list of all the stories.
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Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press, 2016 (orig. pub. by The British Library Publishing Division, 2016)
Editor: Martin Edwards
Length: 311 pages
Format: Trade paperback
Genre: Mysteries, short story collection
Source: Borrowed from my husband.
16 comments:
This was such a good story, so well written that I felt really sad for the elderly woman and her lonely predicament at Christmas and horrified at what happened to her. I hadn't read anything by JB either and had only heard of her because of the Martin Edwards book. Must look to see what else is out there.
What a lot of novels she wrote! I think I probably read some of them but I can't remember which. If only I had written them all down.
This one sounds really atmospheric, Tracy. And sometimes, those inverted stories can be truly excellent. It sounds as though it was a very good entry into this collection. Of course, with Martin Edwards editing, I'm not surprised...
Exactly how I felt, Cath. The first part describing Mrs. Fairlands day was very affecting. I will be looking into more of her books, although I have promised myself that I will buy less books in 2021 -- and read what I have.
Patti, I did not realize how many books Bell had written. I had heard of her via some reprints.
I also wish I had recorded what I wrote. I only started tracking my reading about 20 years ago.
Crimson Snow was a good collection overall, Margot, and this was a very good story. There were a couple of other longer stories in the book also, which I enjoyed.
I've read several Josephine Bell mystery novels and enjoyed them all. As you found out, Bell is also a talented short story writer, too.
I liked this anthology too, and this story especially. Good Choice!
George, I hope to find more by Josephine Bell to read. There are recent reprints, but also some reasonably priced used books online.
Thanks, Rick. It is good to hear from you. How are you doing?
I don't really like short stories but I suddenly have a yen for a Christmas mystery. I must ponder...
Constance, I used to not like short stories, not enough plot I guess. But over the last few years I have learned to enjoy them.This is a good Christmas anthology.
Better, but still a bit slow, spending a lot of time in bed sleeping. It's very cold here, low 30s, but beautifully sunny, so sleeping is easy. Also reading Holmes, my comfort short stories. Lots of good holiday eating lined up, starting with Christmas dinner tonight, lasagna, salad, pie, cheesecake, and carrying on with leftovers, ham, mashed potatoes, cookies, and so on. Barbara has gotten stuck with all the work while I laze about. Bless her!
Rick, it is good to hear that you are getting better and taking care of yourself. Your dinner tonight sounds delicious. Barbara is being very good to you.
I don't think I've come across a collection yet which doesn't have a degree of unevenness with the stories and how much I enjoyed them. This one sounds like an interesting anthology, which I might be tempted to pick up if I came across a bargain copy.
That is the problem with short stories, Col. I have found that there is more consistency if the collection is all one author.
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