Mom Meets Her Maker: James Yaffe

 

I read My Mother, the Detective, a collection of the Dave and Mom stories by James Yaffe in 2019. The stories were first published in the 1950s and 60s in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. In each story, Dave, a detective in the New York Homicide Squad, and his wife Shirley visit his mother and they discuss one of his cases over dinner. Mom asks some pertinent questions and solves the case; Dave is afraid that his coworkers are going to find out that his success rate with cases is due to his mother's help. 

Between 1988 and 1992, Yaffe wrote four mystery novels about Dave and his Mom. Mom Meets Her Maker is the 2nd of the four novels. The book is set at Christmas, and it was the perfect read for me at this time of year. 

Dave is now a widower, and he has moved to the small town of Mesa Grande, Colorado. Dave is no longer a police office; he is now an investigator for the Public Defender's office. The current case that he is working on relates to a serious dispute between neighbors. An older Jewish couple, the Meyers, have retired to Mesa Grande. Their son, Roger, has a dispute with the next door neighbor, Reverend Chuck Candy, who has put up a massive display of Christmas decorations, including lights and music which stay on until 2:00 a.m. in the morning. When he and the Reverend are tussling over a gun that the Reverend pulls out, the gun is fired, and Roger ends up charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Of course, as the case is investigated, the situation escalates and there is a death, which is also blamed on Roger.

In this novel, Dave does a lot of the legwork, following up on clues and interviewing witnesses. His mother functions more as an armchair detective, as she asks him to find out the answers to questions she has, and helps solve the crime. 

My thoughts:

• So, how did I like Dave and Mom in a full length novel? I found the novel very entertaining, and the characters a lot of fun. Some of the characters (good and bad and in-between) are over the top, but they worked for me.
• Like the short stories, Dave narrates most of the novel. I enjoy the way he tells the story, with subtle humor.
• Many mystery novels that are set at Christmas are only tangentially involved with Christmas. This one is immersed in Christmas. 
• The mystery puzzle is good and there are surprises at the end. I also enjoyed a chapter at the end, "After Christmas," where Dave tells us what happened after the crime is solved and where various characters ended up.

A post at the blog, Beneath the Stains of Time, reminded me of this book. The post is also worth a read because it recommends other good Christmas mysteries. Also see TomCat's review of the book. He says: "A better Ellery Queen-style Christmas mystery than Ellery Queen's The Finishing Stroke (1958)."  (I haven't read that one yet, but I do have a copy.) And I just ordered copies of the other three Dave and Mom mysteries. 

Smoke Without Fire: E.X. Ferrars

  

When I saw this book by E.X. Ferrars  at the book store, and saw the lovely Christmas cover, I wanted to read it right away. But it was #6 in the Andrew Basnett series and I had not read any of the other books in the series. Luckily I ran into a great review of this book at Kate's blog, crossexaminingcrime. She assured me that it would be OK to read this series out of order, so I did and it was.

Andrew Basnett is a retired botanist, widowed, in his mid-seventies. He is visiting friends for the Christmas holidays. Colin Cahill and Andrew had been on staff at the same college in London for many years. Cahill and his wife had moved to Berkshire; their son lives with them, working in a nearby town. The family and Andrew have been invited to Sir Lucas Deardon's home for Christmas dinner. Unfortunately Sir Lucas returns to Berkshire from London a day early, and is blown up by a bomb in the lane by his home.

The first question is whether Sir Lucas was the intended victim, as he wasn't expected home at that time. If not, who was the bomb intended for? The lane that leads to Sir Lucas home would only be used to reach one other home, the Cahills. Could the Cahill's son, Jonathan, be the intended victim? The police inquire into the various relationships between the Cahills and Sir Lucas's relations, some living with him and others living in London. 

Andrew seems to me to be an accidental sleuth. He is not really intending to find the murderer, but he can't ignore the situation. He can't help being curious, and people like to talk to him.

There is a lot of talk in this mystery. Andrew talking to the family he is staying with. Andrew talking to various members of Sir Lucas's family. So if you don't like talky mysteries, this may not appeal. Fortunately I enjoy Ferrars' writing and this mystery was very appealing to me. 

Based on the books I have read so far by this author, her books are more about the people than the crimes. The crime exists but it seems to me to provide a framework for Ferrars to delve into the psychology and relationships among the characters. 

E.X. Ferrars was born Morna Doris MacTaggart. In the UK her books were issued under the name "Elizabeth Ferrars." She was a very prolific writer. I would guess that she published at least 60 books between 1940 and 1995. I have read three of her standalone books, and I liked all of them.

-----------------------------

Publisher:   Felony & Mayhem, 2022 (orig. pub. 1990)
Length:      182 pages
Format:      Trade paperback
Series:       Andrew Basnett #6
Setting:      UK
Genre:        Mystery, set at Christmas
Source:      I purchased my copy.

Not a Creature Was Stirring: Jane Haddam

Not a Creature Was Stirring is the first book in the Gregor Demarkian series by Jane Haddam. The series has 30 books, the last one published after Haddam's death. The first ten books in the series were set around holidays, and the books were sort of cozy. Later books were darker and more focused on issues. I have read the first 24 books in the series.

The story in this book is set at Christmas, and has a Christmas theme throughout. I have read this book three times, and it is my favorite book in the Gregor Demarkian series. Demarkian is a retired FBI agent, with a good reputation. 

The story begins a few days before Christmas when Demarkian is invited to dinner on Christmas Eve by Robert Hannaford, the immensely rich head of a large family in Philadelphia. Demarkian does not know Hannaford, nor does he know the reason for the invitation. When he arrives for dinner, Hannaford is dead in his study. Demarkian is eventually invited to consult with the police to investigate the crime.

The characters in this book are interesting and complex. Demarkian is a widower and recovering from his wife's death. Although he is retired, he is now finding that he misses the work. Robert Hannaford did not like any of his six children, but was devoted to his wife, who is very ill. When he dies, it is pretty clear that at least one of his children killed him. 

It had been long enough since the last time I read this book that I had forgotten who killed Robert Hannaford. I did know that one of the children continues throughout the series, but I still was wondering what the solution was up until the very end. 

This book was published as a paperback original in mass market format in December 1990. It has a very nice two page spread of a floor plan for the main level and the 2nd floor of Engine House, the Hannaford Estate. I love additions like that in mysteries.

 -----------------------------

Publisher:  Bantam, 1990. 
Length:     287 pages
Format:     Paperback
Series:      Gregor Demarkian, #1
Setting:     Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Genre:       Mystery
Source:     I purchased my copy.

Short Story Wednesday: More from Mistletoe Mysteries

 

I purchased this book in 2014 after reading a post at GeorgeKelley.org. I read a few stories at that time, then just two years ago I featured the book on my blog, having read 6 more stories in the book. 

Today I feature three more stories from this book. I still haven't read all the stories in this book, but I hope to finish the last three by the end of 2022.

"Dutch Uncle" by Aaron Elkins

Per Charlotte MacLeod's introduction, this was the first short story Aaron Elkins wrote. At the time he had published a few mystery novels, but no short stories. [He has now published 18 novels in the Gideon Oliver series, two other shorter series, and four standalone novels.]

This story is about a lawyer who is hired by a client to help him purchase a piece of art for his wife's Christmas present -- at the last minute. It takes place on Christmas Eve in the late afternoon and that is the last thing he wants to be doing on Christmas Eve.  On top of that the client is extremely obnoxious. The two men find only one art gallery open at that time. With great difficulty they decide upon a painting to purchase, and return home on the ferry. There are two or three (maybe even four) twists before the end of the story and I liked them all.

"The Man Who Loved Christmas" by Henry Slesar

A police office in a small suburb of Dayton is called into work on Christmas morning. He is unhappy about this because his wife is very pregnant with their first child and could have the baby at any time. The case is the disappearance of a man whose wife reported him missing; he wasn't in bed when she woke up and she could not locate him anywhere. The missing man has two children and Christmas is very important to him, so the wife insists he has not just abandoned his family. 

This is another story with unexpected twists, but the results are more serious in this one.

"The Touch of Kolyada" by Edward D. Hoch

This is a Simon Ark story by Hoch, written especially for this anthology. Simon Ark is a mysterious man who claims to be 2000 years old, a Coptic priest hunting down evil. His tales are told by a friend who has known him for many years. His friend doesn't really believe his claims but he does notice that he hasn't aged in the time he has known him. I haven't read any Simon Ark stories yet but I do have a fairly recent collection of those stories from Crippen & Landru on my shelves. 

In this story, Simon Ark encounters a figure from Russian folklore, the elf maiden Kolyada, who distributes gifts to children at Christmas, similar to Santa Claus in western countries. It is an entertaining story, not very complex, and I like the way the narrator tells the story.

Short Story Wednesday: "Maigret's Christmas" by Georges Simenon

Short Story Wednesday is on the first day of December, so I am featuring a story by Georges Simenon with a Christmas theme.

On Christmas morning two women who live in Maigret's neighborhood come to Maigret's house to report an odd event. One woman is older, Mademoiselle Doncoeur, who does fine needlework; the other woman, Madame Martin, is younger, about 30. Madame Martin lives with her husband and his niece, who is recovering from an injury to her leg, and cannot get out of bed. The niece, about eight years old, has reported that Father Christmas visited her in the middle of the night and left a doll for her. She saw him looking for something under the floorboards of her room, and assumed he was trying to get to the room of a boy who lives in the apartment below. Mademoiselle Doncoeur had insisted that they tell Maigret about this, even though neither of them had met him before. Madame Martin was reluctant to report the incident to Maigret.

Thus starts Maigret's investigation of this case, done entirely from his home, with the help of men at the police station via phone calls. 

I have not read a lot of Maigret stories (full length or otherwise) recently, so I don't know much about Maigret's relationship with his wife. In both the stories I read recently, she features prominently, more so in this one. "Maigret's Christmas" is a lovely story. It ends on a sad note, but is not dark or depressing at all. I enjoyed getting to see more of Maigret's wife and their relationship in this story.

I read this story in Maigret's Christmas, a collection of stories by Georges Simenon. "Maigret's Christmas" is the first story in the book, and is lengthy for a short story, 60 pages in my edition. The story was first published in France in 1951. 

I have started the next story, which is also about 60 pages, "Seven Small Crosses in a Notebook". I have read two chapters out of five and will finish it soon. 

I have also read the last story in the book, "Maigret in Retirement", which was 105 pages long. I read that one about a week ago, and reviewed it here.

Short Story Wednesday: "The Carol Singers" by Josephine Bell

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.

 -----------------------------

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.

Murder for Christmas: Francis Duncan

My husband has been the source of several of my mystery reads set during the holidays, this year and in the past, and here is another one he discovered. Murder for Christmas is part of a series written by Francis Duncan and published between 1944 and 1954. This book falls in the middle of the series.

Mordecai Tremaine receives an invitation to spend Christmas at the country estate of Benedict Grame. Included in the invitation is a brief note from Grame's secretary, Nicholas Blaise, asking Tremaine to join the Christmas gathering because he has a sense that trouble is brewing. Tremaine does not know Benedict Grame well at all, having only met him once at a party in Kensington, but the lure of a mystery is appealing.

Tremaine is an unusual character. He is a retired tobacconist, and has a definite interest in criminology. He has helped in solving a crime or two in an amateur capacity in the past, working with local policemen. He also likes reading romances and he is addicted to stories in the magazine Romantic Times. 

Even before Mordecai Tremaine arrives at the country house of Benedict Grame, he gets a hint that strange things may be going on. He stops at a tea shop in the nearby town of Calnford on his way to Grame's estate and sees a couple talking furtively at another table. Then at dinner that night at Sherbroome House he sees the female half of that couple and she pointedly ignores him. Strange behavior like that seems the norm in the group of guests visiting Grame, but Tremaine cannot put his finger on what is going on. And there are lots of characters to keep track of: Grame's relatives, friends, business acquaintances, and the villagers. 

I like the way that the author reveals that there are strange and sinister things going on, and gives us hints, but I never guessed at the secret that is being hidden. And when it is, then all of a sudden a lot of things make sense. The characters are mostly unsympathetic but there are enough likable characters to make up for them.  

There is a romance but it does not take over the plot. This is a twisty, fun Christmas mystery. It would be interesting to see how some of the other books in the series fare, since they don't have the added benefit of Christmas traditions.

This is the fourth in a series of seven mysteries, so if you want to start with another in the series, I would suggest reading John Norris's post on three other books by this author. On the other hand, based on John's post, it doesn't seem like order matters.

-----------------------------

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark, 2017 (orig. publ. 1949)
Length:    345 pages
Format:    Trade paperback
Series:     Mordecai Tremaine #4
Setting:    England
Genre:     Mystery
Source:    Borrowed from my husband.

Short Story Wednesday: Three from Mistletoe Mysteries

In 2014, George Kelley wrote a review of Mistletoe Mysteries, an anthology of Christmas stories edited by Charlotte MacLeod, originally published in 1989. All of the stories have a copyright date of 1989 and were first published in this anthology. See George's post, which includes a list of all the stories in the book. 

At the time I purchased a used copy of the book, and the next year I read the first three stories in the book. This year I read the next six stories, so I have now read nine of the fifteen stories. 

These are the three stories I liked the best. Two relate to Christmas traditions, the other is about the Scottish end of year celebration, Hogmanay.

"The Live Tree" by John Lutz

I haven't ever read anything by John Lutz. This was the shortest story of all the ones I read, about a grinchy father with zero Christmas spirit, who refuses to buy a live Christmas tree for his young son. Then his brother, who was in prison, shows up on his doorstep, with a live tree. Contrary to my expectations, I loved the ending of this story.

"Here Comes Santa Claus" by Bill Pronzini

Bill Pronzini is a very prolific author. Mostly he writes mysteries, but he has also written Westerns and edited many short story anthologies. He is best known for his Nameless Detective series of over 40 novels about a private  investigator working in the San Francisco area. I have read 25 of the books in the series; my husband has read all of them except the last one.

This short story features Nameless, who has been coerced by his girlfriend Kerry to play Santa Claus at a big fundraiser. The story is told in first person, as the novels are, but with more humor. A very good read.

"A Wee Doch and Doris" by Sharyn McCrumb

The main character in this story is a burglar, who takes advantage of New Year's Eve, when many people are out celebrating, to rob several empty houses. It also features Hogmanay, a Scottish celebration of the last day of the year, and first footing, a tradition where the first person to enter the house on the first day of the year determines the household's luck for the next year. The end of this story is a hoot, and it surprised me. Not only do I finally have a better understanding of Hogmanay, but I enjoyed reading the story.

The Twelve Deaths of Christmas: Marian Babson

I am still in a holiday mood on the 2nd day of the new year, so I am writing about my last Christmas read from mid-December. The Twelve Deaths of Christmas is set in a boarding house, and based on the title it sounds grim. But it is more of cozy mystery, although there are many deaths throughout. Published in 1979, the story is old-fashioned and I liked that. Random deaths are taking place all over London, although the police suspect that one person is causing all the deaths.

The story is told from several points of view. From the point of view of the boarders at Maude's boarding house. From the point of view of the killer, told in first person. And from the point of view of the policemen investigating the crime. Thus this story is part psychological suspense and part police procedural. The reader knows from early in the book that the killer lives in Maude Daneson's boarding house (but not the identity, of course).

Most of the narrative is focused on Christmas preparations and plans at the boarding house and the killer's thoughts and and activities. The killings are haphazard, not usually planned in advance, so the series of deaths seem to be the perfect crime with no links to the killer.

Iris Loring, a freelance artist, serves as the character who introduces the tenants of the house. As a distant relative of Maude, she has her room for free in exchange for serving as the housekeeper. As the tenants enter and return to the building each day Iris meets then as she does her chores and decorates the hallway for Christmas.

Again the style of each chapter feeding hints about the villain but leaving the reader dangling annoyed me (as in The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley), but overall the story is a page turner and a fun Christmas read (and short). The setting of the boarding house is an appealing one. A group of disparate persons, some young, some older and retired, provide some interesting characters and relationships. The policemen on the case do not play a large part, but the characterization of the two men is very well done.

My impression is that Marian Babson wrote many mysteries, but with variations in style, so I think it will be worthwhile to follow up on some of her other books. They don't show up a lot at the book sale so I shall have to make and effort to find some. (Any suggestions are welcome.)

Curt Evans at The Passing Tramp has written a couple of very informative posts with an overview of Babson's career and a focus on one of her novels.

See reviews from Richard Robinson at The Broken Bulhorn and Kate at Mystery Please.


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Publisher: Dell, 1985 (first published 1979).
Length:    192 pages
Format:    Paperback
Setting:    London
Genre:     Mystery

Source:    Purchased at Planned Parenthood Book Sale, 2006.

Crime at Christmas: C.H.B. Kitchin

This is the first book I have read by C.H.B. Kitchin. The setting is one often used in vintage mysteries taking place around Christmas -- a large house where many people are gathered for Christmas celebrations. This time the house is not in the country but on Hampstead Heath in London.

The protagonist, Malcolm Warren, has an unusual job (for an amateur sleuth in a mystery); he is a stockbroker, and he is visiting Mr. Quisberg, his most important client. Mr. Quisberg's wife has five children by previous marriages, aged from 12 to mid-twenties, so with the family and some of Quisberg's friends, they have a full house, although Quisberg and his secretary Harley have gone off on a business trip.

After dinner on Christmas Eve and a game of bridge, they play a game of musical chairs, and during the shenanigan's Malcolm falls and seriously injures his arm. The doctor (one of the guests) gives him something to help him sleep. When he wakes in the morning he discovers a dead body on a balcony, which is quite a shocker although it seems to have been an accident.

In the next few days, there are more strange and deadly occurrences. Malcolm is suspicious of what is going on in the house, and feels that things are off but he cannot put his finger on the problem. When a second body is found, Inspector Parris shows up. He immediately befriends Malcolm, using him somewhat as a spy in the household, and at the least a source of information. I did not particularly care for the inspector, but he is useful to the plot.

The story moved slowly, but I enjoyed the slow pace. Malcolm tells the story in a first person narrative and he has a lot to say about his surroundings, the house, its furnishings, and it occupants.

He describes his impression of the house...

The less I say about the furnishing and 'appointments' of the house, the better, perhaps. Both Bloomsbury and Belgravia would (for different reasons) have described them as appalling. A few pieces of furniture were beautiful. All of them were expensive, but the general effect was deplorable. Somehow everything about the house was a little wrong. Despite the size of the rooms, they seemed too full. The electric light fittings, specially made in Paris, I was told, did not harmonise with the carving on the walls and doors...

After the first death...

It was perhaps fortunate that it was early in the morning; for at such an hour my emotions are rarely acute. While shaving, I can forget even that I am in love. My chief feeling, I think, was one of annoyance. There we were, all gathered together for a Christmas party, and plunged suddenly into gloom and the menace of official inquiry.

Malcolm is a very strange creature, in a good way. I liked him a lot and did not really care how things turned out otherwise. A lot of the other people staying at the house were also strange, some likable, some not so much.

The last chapter was unusual, wrapping up the story with a Question and Answer session. I liked that also, but some reviewers did not.

Per his Author Bio at Allen & Unwin...

C. H. B. Kitchin was born in Yorkshire in 1895. He read classics at Exeter College, Oxford and, after serving in France during the First World War, was called to the Bar in 1924.

This is the 2nd book by Kitchen featuring Malcolm Warren. Other books in the series are:

• Death of My Aunt (1929)
• Death of His Uncle (1939)
• The Cornish Fox (1949)

See other reviews...
at Beneath the Stains of Times, crossexaminingcrime, Pining for the West, and View from the Blue House.

My husband has provided several of my recent reads set during the holidays. This one, and The Christmas Egg and one coming up, The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley (published this year).

 -----------------------------

Publisher:   Faber & Faber, 2015, (orig. pub. 1934)
Length:       249 pages
Series:        Malcolm Warren #2
Format:       Trade Paperback
Setting:       Hampstead, London, UK
Genre:        Mystery
Source:      Borrowed from my husband.

Nothing Lasts Forever: Roderick Thorpe

This is the novel that the film Die Hard (1988) was based on. The book was published in 1979 so the time frame is about the same in the book and the movie.

From the description on the back of the book:

A dozen heavily armed terrorists have taken hostages, issued demands, and promised bloodshed all according to plan. But they haven't counted on a death-defying, one-man cavalry with no shoes, no backup, and no intention of going down easily. As hot-headed cops swarm outside, and cold-blooded killers wield machine guns and rocket launchers inside, the stage is set for the ultimate showdown between anti-hero and uber-villains. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good fight to the death. Ho ho ho!

I would like to think that I could have evaluated this book without comparing it to the movie as I read it, but that wasn't really possible. I have seen the movie many, many times and practically have it memorized. And the plot of the book is close enough to the movie that it was hard to separate them.

In the book the main character is Joseph Leland. He is a former policeman, once had his own private detective agency, and now is a security consultant.  When terrorists take over the skyscraper he is visiting, he evades them and soon knows how dangerous they are and that he is the only one who has a chance to foil their plan.

If anything, the book has more violence than the film, and the story is definitely darker than the film. There is very little humor. The story is set at Christmas, beginning Christmas Eve and ending on December 25th. Much of the action is very similar to the film, but characters and relationships are different.

I did like the story very much. It is told from Leland's point of view, and we learn a lot about his past and his attitudes in between action scenes. Other characters are important to the story, but we never get to know them as well. The ending was a shocker.

Roderick Thorp wrote an earlier novel, The Detective, published in 1966 and also featuring Joseph Leland.  It is twice as long and doesn't get many good reviews so I am undecided whether to give it a try someday.


 -----------------------------

Publisher:   Graymalkin Media, 2012 (orig. pub. 1979)
Length:      245 pages
Format:      Trade Paperback
Series:       Joseph Leland #1
Setting:      Los Angeles, California
Genre:       Thriller
Source:      I purchased this book.

The Black-Headed Pins: Constance and Gwenyth Little

Leigh Smith's father died and she had no money at all. Miserly Mrs. Ballinger moved to a big house in the country, and offered Leigh a job as companion and housekeeper, or as "Smithy" puts it, "general slave." Mrs. Ballinger decides to invite her young relatives to a house party for Christmas.

A few days before the house party, Leigh and Mrs. Ballinger hear noises in the attic, like something is being dragged across it. There is a family curse that someone in the Ballinger family will die if that dragging noise is heard. The house guests arrive, and they bring along uninvited guests. And soon, there is a death and it is a member of the Ballinger family.

This book is one of 21 mysteries written by Constance and Gwyneth Little. All of their books were standalone books, and they were all very humorous. At Girl Detective, their books are described as a “cozy blend of vintage murder and madcap comedy.”

That site is where I first heard of the books by the Little sisters, years ago. This is the first one I have read, and I think I put it off for so long because I had a prejudice against funny or comical mysteries, even though I had previously enjoyed such mysteries by Donald Westlake and Janet Evanovich.

I should not have waited so long because I did thoroughly enjoy this book. It was a quick and easy read, with some very funny moments. I will be looking for more books by these authors.

I liked the first person narrative by Leigh Smith. She is a plucky, intelligent heroine. Although she was hired as a companion, she ends up being Mrs. Ballinger's maid and gofer (and mistreated at that). There is a lot of cleaning in this book, and I wish I could learn Smithy's tricks to cleaning a room up so fast.

A lot of vintage Christmas books (and some newer ones too) center around a group of people visiting a relative for Christmas ... and then someone is murdered. Often the victim is some curmudgeonly old person disliked by all his/her relatives. This story is also along those lines but the first murder victim is not old or unpleasant and some of the guests are quite pleasant, although most  of them are well-to-do and spoiled. They reminded me of characters out of a Georgette Heyer mystery but in a very different setting.

In addition to the humor, I thought the mystery was very clever, although the story was never very realistic. The small town policeman was a hoot; entertaining and intelligent. And there is a potential romance or two going on.

See also

• John Grant’s Goodreads review
• Kate’s review at Crosseexamingcrime
• Bev’s review at My Reader’s Block
• and at Beneath the Stains of Time

 -----------------------------

Publisher:   Rue Morgue Press, 1999 (orig. pub. 1938)
Length:      155 pages
Format:      Trade Paperback
Setting:      New Jersey, USA
Genre:        Mystery
Source:      I purchased this book.

The Christmas Egg: by Mary Kelly

This book is not a typical puzzle mystery, and even though the main characters in the book are two policemen, Chief Inspector Brett Nightingale and Sergeant Beddoes, it is not a typical police procedural either.

The story starts with the death of an old Russian woman, Princess Olga Karukhin, just a few days before Christmas. She seems to have died in her sleep, but some very valuable jewels and Russian art objects have been stolen from a chest in her room at the same time. Is this a coincidence? Based on the sighting of a green van in front of her building at the time in question, the police link the theft with a gang of robbers who have been working in the area recently. There is also the name of a jeweler left beside her bed. Nightingale and Beddoes follow up on these leads.

I enjoyed the interplay between the two policemen; we spend a good bit of time with them in this story. Nightingale likes his job, but it is not the only thing in his life. His wife is a singer, and he sings in an amateur opera company. Beddoes is ambitious and doesn't hesitate to speak his mind.

Nightingale is searching for a Christmas gift for his wife, which he ends up buying from a jeweler who he is questioning in regards to the theft of the Princess's valuables. At the same time he finds that the Princess also had two records that she planned to sell, rare recordings by Jean de Reszke (real life Polish tenor and opera star) that a collector would be willing to pay a good amount of money for, adding another dimension to the theft.

My experience with this book was very positive. The case the police are focused on relates to robberies, not murder, and the story is more following down clues (and guesses) and tracking the missing jewels in order to find the gang. The story reveals details of life at the time the book was written. There are surprises along the way (at least for me).

Anthony Boucher said: "The book is fascinating as a stage in the development of an important writer, and a pleasing entertainment in its own right." Kirkus Reviews described the story as "more pursuit than procedure" and "fast to follow, with no remission of interest."

This book is the third of three mysteries featuring Brett Nightingale. I am interested in the previous books and they are available online in used copies at reasonable prices so I will pursue them soon. The later books written by Mary Kelly were standalone mysteries and many critics have preferred those later books.

Martin Edward's introduction to this British Library edition is excellent, giving the reader more information about the author.


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Publisher: British Library, 2019 (orig. pub. 1958).
Length:    219 pages 
Format:    Trade Paperback 
Series:     Inspector Brett Nightingale #3
Setting:    London
Genre:     Mystery
Source:    Borrowed from my husband.

November 2019 Reading Summary

In November, I read only crime fiction novels. And a good number of the books I read were related to Christmas (three books set at Christmas, and one following Christmas into the New Year). Two books were published before 1960, four were published between 1961 and 1999, and two were published after 2000.

These are the books I read:

Death After Breakfast (1978) by Hugh Pentecost

I read the Pierre Chambrun novels by Hugh Pentecost years ago, and remember them fondly. Chambrun is the manager of a luxury hotel in New York and the stories are narrated by Mark Haskell, the hotel’s public relations director. Per Goodreads, this is the 13th in the series of 22 books. My thoughts here. 

Motherless Brooklyn (1999) by Jonathan Lethem

This was my first experience reading anything by Jonathon Lethem and this book is certainly different. It is described as a "riff on the classic detective novel." Leonard Essrog works for Frank Minna at a limo service / detective agency. When his boss is killed, he decides he will find out who did it. The catch is that he has Tourette's Syndrome and communication with others is challenging. I liked the book and want to try other books by this author.

The Hunting Party (2019) by Lucy Foley

A group of friends from Oxford vacation together at an isolated luxury hunting lodge in the Scottish Highlands, continuing a New Year's tradition that started ten years ago. The estate is beautiful but during inclement weather it can be cut off from the world. The friends all have secrets, as do the manager, the gamekeeper, and the caretaker. As we expect, this is a recipe for disaster. The dilemma of being snowed in is a standard Christmas mystery trope. This book was an engrossing read although sometimes I was confused by the multiple narrators.

Nothing Lasts Forever (1979) by Roderick Thorp

The film Die Hard (1988) was based on this novel. If anything, the book has more violence than the film, and the book is definitely darker. The story is set at Christmas, and much of the action is very similar, but characters and relationships are different. Regardless, I liked the story very much. As usual, the novel reveals more about the characters and their background than the film.

The Christmas Egg (1958) by Mary Kelly

This is a "seasonal mystery" published by the British Library in its Crime Classics series. The author was new to me and she did not publish very many mystery novels. It was different, and concentrated on interesting characters, which I liked. I do hope to find more books by this author.

Off Minor (1991) by John Harvey

This month I returned to the police procedural series starring Charlie Resnick, written by John Harvey. This is the 4th book in the series; I read the first three books in 2008 and 2009. This one is about child abductions, not a pleasant subject, but a good entry in the series. 

The Black-Headed Pin (1938)
by Constance and Gwenyth Little

Leigh Smith's father died and she was left with no money at all. After moving to a big house in the country, miserly Mrs. Ballinger offers her a job as companion and housekeeper, or as "Smithy" puts it, "general slave." The fun begins when Mrs. Ballinger invites her young relatives to a house party for Christmas. The authors were sisters, born in Australia; their family later moved to East Orange, New Jersey. Their books were all standalone mysteries. This is a very funny mystery and I will be looking for more books by these authors.

Magpie Murders (2016) by Anthony Horowitz

This is a book within a book, and in this case we get two mysteries for the price of one. The first book starts with Susan Ryeland, an editor, reading a mystery by one of her clients for the first time. That story is set in the late 1950s in a small town in England, and features a private detective somewhat like Hercule Poirot. I liked this book, it was a page turner, and both parts of the story were entertaining on many levels. 

The Shortest Day: Jane Langton

The Shortest Day is the 11th book in the Homer Kelly series. This story is set in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Homer and Mary Kelly are teaching a class at Harvard University. Mary is participating in the annual Christmas Revels when a young singer in the event dies in an automobile accident. When other deaths follow, Homer resists getting involved, even though he was once a homicide detective. This book centers on the production of the Revels and an activist group seeking housing for the homeless; the author illustrated the story with her own pen and ink drawings.

I have been featuring some books that are set in December around Christmas this month, but this is the first book that is truly seasonal, with the story built around the Christmas season and the Winter Solstice.

From the book, a description of the Christmas Revels at Harvard:

Of course, it wasn't just the festival of Christmas they would be celebrating, it was also the winter solstice. Some of the Revels themes had nothing to do with the birth of Jesus.  They were pagan stories, they were magic, they were ancient rites challenging the cold of winter in its darkest time, awakening the growth and greenness of the spring. And some were wassails praising the joys of good brown ale, and some were haunting entreaties to the wild deer in the forest, appeals by the hunters to the hunted to allow themselves to be killed. And always there was the stamping and leaping of the Morris dancers, which had no connection with the Christian nativity at all.

In this mystery, which really doesn't involve much investigation, Homer Kelly takes a back seat to Mary, who notices what is going on and sees the clues. He, on the other hand, doesn't see any evidence of wrongdoing until much later in the story.

This is, in essence, an inverted mystery, because the reader does know early on who is causing the deaths. I mention that because some mystery readers prefer stories where they can guess who the perpetrator is and why.

I read the first three books in the series, in 2007, and have always thought of Homer Kelly and Mary Kelly being on an equal footing in the series. The books I read were published in 1964, 1975, and 1978. Possibly I remember wrongly, because I see that the series is called the Homer Kelly series and in this story, published in 1995, Homer brushes off Mary's concerns every time she brings up her misgivings about the deaths.  I found this irritating and it took me out of the story at times, but it really does not change the fact that this mystery has a lot to offer.  Such as:

• This is a quirky and humorous mystery in an academic setting. 
• it is a nice cozy and mildly humorous mystery set at Christmas, with background on the Christmas solstice and accompany celebrations.
• The line drawings are lovely and add to the story.
• There are interesting side stories about the homeless and urban poverty, and an astronomer who is photographing the analemma over a year's time and is nearly at the end of this project.

Mysterious Press publishes ebook editions of the entire series, which include the line drawings. They have this to say about Jane Langton:

Winner of the Bouchercon Lifetime Achievement Award, Jane Langton (b. 1922) is an acclaimed author of mystery novels and children’s literature. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Langton took degrees in astronomy and art history before she began writing novels, and has set much of her fiction in the tight-knit world of New England academia.

See also an article that appeared in Mystery Scene magazine in the Spring 2012 Issue #124.


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Publisher: Penguin Books, 1996; orig. pub. 1995
Length:  262 pages
Format: mass market paperback
Series:  Homer Kelly #11
Setting:   Boston, Massachusetts
Genre:  Mystery

Source: I purchased this book.

Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow: Peter Hoeg

This book begins with a funeral. A very young boy that Smilla has befriended is dead as the result of a fall off a building. The death is almost immediately declared to be accidental, but Smilla disagrees. She files a complaint, and an investigator comes out, but the investigator is not convinced. Smilla will not give up, she is determined to find out who would kill Isaac and why.

The story takes place mostly in Denmark. The last third takes place on a ship, the Kronos, on an expedition to an island off Greenland. Smilla was originally from Greenland, although her father was Danish. I learned a lot about the relationship between Greenland and Denmark. And the cold, cruel weather in both of those countries.

As you can see from the cover, the story takes place around Christmas and New Year's Day. Smilla is not fond of holidays, but her father tries to get her to celebrate with him. They have a difficult history and relationship.

This was a reread (after about 25 years so I remembered nothing about the book), and I think I loved this story more the second time.

The writing is just beautiful. It pulls you in. It took me longer than usual to read this book and that was partly because I wanted to extend the experience.

The story is written in present tense, and usually I find that distracting. However, I have found that I notice it much less when the story is also told from the first person point of view, and that works well here.

Smilla is like a pink Energizer Bunny. She refuses to be stopped and she never runs down. Or, as her friend the mechanic puts it...

"Smilla," he whispers, "when I was a child I had a tank you could wind up – with caterpillar treads. If you put something down in front of it, it would climb straight over it because it had such low gears. If the object was perpendicular the tank would turn around and crawl along the edge until it found some other way over. You couldn't stop it. You're like that tank, Smilla."

Smilla is also very intelligent with a scientific background. She is a strong female protagonist, with a mind of her own. I found her to be a very attractive character, and that was a major factor in my enjoyment of the book.

Some people don't care for the ending, and I don't want to tell too much about it. I really wasn't bothered by any aspect of the ending because I knew the story could never end the way I wanted it to.

The original language of this book was Danish, and it has been translated into English in two different versions, one published in the US (with the title Smilla's Sense of Snow), one published in the UK. There are disagreements about which translation is best. I read the US version the first time, the UK version the second time. This was not intentional, I did not know about the two translations until after I purchased my copy. I found more information at A Crime is Afoot, and here, if you are interested.

I have only given a brief overview and there is much more that could be said about this book. If you would like more detail, see Margot's Spotlight at Confessions of a Mystery Novelist...

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Publisher:   Vintage Classics, 2015 (orig. pub. 1992)
Length:       410 pages
Format:      Paperback
Setting:      Denmark, Greenland
Genre:       Mystery
Translation:   Translated from Danish by F. David
Source:      I purchased this book.

Iron Lake: William Kent Krueger

Iron Lake is William Kent Krueger's first novel, starring Cork O'Connor, the former sheriff of Aurora, Minnesota, ousted in a recent recall election. Many residents of the small town still think of him as sheriff and ask him for help when they get into trouble. Cork is also half Irish and half Anishinaabe Indian. The Anishinaabe reservation is near to Aurora, and the town and the reservation share usage of nearby Iron Lake.

This story tells us about Cork's connection to the reservation, and his history with his wife and family. Gradually we learn about the political situation in the town and the disputes between the townspeople and the reservation. I like the way the story is slowly revealed. Although we know from the beginning that a death has occurred, we don't know if it is murder or not for quite a while.

This book has it all. Complex characters. A meaningful plot. Lots of surprises. Very good pacing.

At first I found Cork's wife to be a cipher, I could not connect with her. I don't know that I ever liked her, but in the end she was just as complex as any of the other important characters. Sometimes, I didn't like Cork all that much, but the story explains a lot of his behavior, his background, and I found him admirable in the context of what he had experienced.

The family dynamics are very, very good. He has children that he cares about and he wants to be with them; yet he and his wife are separated, so he cannot be a real part of their lives. The children are at different stages of development and I liked his relationship with them and his patience with them.

Another bonus is that the book is set at Christmas. It is not a traditional Christmas mystery by any means but Christmas does play a part in the plot.

And finally, I enjoyed this book for the setting, which not only included the physical setting  of northern Minnesota but also the proximity to an Indian reservation and the juxtaposition of the Indian culture vs the town culture. Cork's mixed race causes issues on both sides.

I am very glad I finally ready this book. I bought my copy of Iron Lake over 5 years ago and it was first published 20 years ago. I was motivated to move it to the top of my TBR pile by a recent recommendation from Richard at Tip the Wink. His review is here. I want to see how a lot of this plays out for Cork. So I will be reading more of the series.

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Publisher:  Pocket Books, 1999, orig. pub. 1998.
Length:    438 pages
Format:    Paperback
Series:     Cork O'Connor #1
Setting:    Minnesota
Genre:     Mystery
Source:   I bought my copy.

The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries

Two years ago I purchased a copy of The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries, edited and with an introduction by Otto Penzler. It is one of those huge books– around 650 pages with two columns per page, and 60 stories. I don't really like reading large books like that, too awkward, but every year now I pull it out and read a few of the stories.

A quote from Penzler's introduction:

Mystery fiction set during the Christmas season has been with us for a long time, and it is astonishing how many authors have turned their pens and wicked thoughts to this time of year. Perhaps this is because violence seems so out of character, so inappropriate, for this time of year that it takes on extra weight. Think of how often terrible events have been recounted with the sad or angry exclamation, "and at Christmas time!"

These are the stories I read and enjoyed this year.

“Dead on Christmas Street” by John D. MacDonald

A police detective investigates a murder with his girlfriend, who just happens to be the DA's secretary, in the days leading up to Christmas. A clever and entertaining story. Not Christmassy but with descriptions of decorations on the streets, which I enjoyed.

A woman who worked in an office 17 stories up has just fallen to the pavement, into the rush of Christmas shoppers...

Some of the spectators, laden with tinsel- and evergreen-decorated packages, turned away, suppressing a nameless guilt. 

But the curious stayed on. Across the street, in the window of a department store, a vast mechanical Santa rocked back and forth, slapping a mechanical hand against a padded thigh, roaring forever, “Whawhaw ho ho ho. Whawhaw ho ho ho.” The slapping hand had worn the red plush from the padded thigh. 

The ambulance arrived... Wet snow fell into the city. And there was nothing else to see. The corner Santa, a leathery man with a pinched, blue nose, began to ring his hand bell again.

“Dead on Christmas Street” was first published in the December 20, 1952, issue of Collier's. The story is featured at The Trap of Solid Gold, Steve Scott's blog devoted to celebrating the works of John D MacDonald. The post has an illustration from the story as published in Collier's.

"A Reversible Santa Claus" by Meredith Nicholson

This was a new discovery for me, a story from 1917. The story begins...

Mr. William B. Aikins, alias "Softy" Hubbard, alias Billy The Hopper, paused for breath behind a hedge that bordered a quiet lane and peered out into the highway at a roadster whose tail light advertised its presence to his felonious gaze. It was Christmas Eve, and after a day of unseasonable warmth a slow, drizzling rain was whimsically changing to snow. 

The Hopper was blowing from two hours' hard travel over rough country. He had stumbled through woodlands, flattened himself in fence corners to avoid the eyes of curious motorists speeding homeward or flying about distributing Christmas gifts, and he was now bent upon committing himself to an inter-urban trolley line that would afford comfortable transportation for the remainder of his journey. Twenty miles, he estimated, still lay between him and his domicile.

This is a long short story, really novelette length. Billy the Hopper is a retired thief who has settled down on a chicken farm with his wife (a retired shoplifter) and another retired criminal who has expertise in the care and feeding of poultry. One night he succumbs to an ill-advised impulse, and takes a roadster parked in front of a cottage. He soon discovers that the unattended car contained a small child, a 2 year old boy. Now Billy has to figure out how to return the child to his family without going back to prison. This is a fun, old-fashioned story.

Per the preface to the story:

ALONG WITH BOOTH TARKINGTON , George Ade, and the poet James Whitcomb Riley, Meredith Nicholson was part of what was regarded as the Golden Age of literature in Indiana in the first quarter of the twentieth century. Although not an author whose works have stood the test of time well, he was a bestseller in his day whose fiction was governed by the invariable triumph of love and by insistence on the virtues of wholesome, bourgeois life, always told with good-natured humor. “A Reversible Santa Claus” was first published as a slim, illustrated book of that title (Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1917).

“Death on Christmas Eve” by Stanley Ellin

This story was not my favorite but it certainly is atmospheric. It is the formidable and harsh story of a brother whose wife has died and the sister he lives with. It was first published in the January 1950 issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

Moira at Clothes in Books has also covered this story.

This year I read two stories that featured cats.

In "The Trinity Cat" by Ellis Peters, a lop-eared church cat helps a detective in his investigations.

Using the name Ellis Peters, Edith Pargeter wrote two series of mysteries, the Cadfael Mysteries set in the twelfth century and the George Felse series. This story was first published in Winter's Crimes #8 (London, Macmillan, 1976).

"The Christmas Kitten" by Ed Gorman is another long story with chapter divisions featuring characters from Gorman's series about lawyer Sam McCain and Judge Eleanor Whitney, and set in the 1950's. Each title in the series is the title of a song from that time.

The kitten is incidental to the story and does not solve the crime, but is a very nice touch. I enjoyed revisiting these characters, if only briefly, and must get back to reading the series. “The Christmas Kitten” was first published in the January 1997 issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

Last year I noted several Christmas stories I read in this book in this post.