December 2015 Discussion: The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries (spoilers)
 

The time has come to discuss the December 2015 MobileRead Book Club selection, The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries edited by Otto Penzler. What did you think?

I have read eight so far this year, working on the back of the book. I started with the six of A Puzzling Little Christmas, and am now working my way through A Classic Little Christmas.

There have been some famous names like Julian Symons and Ngaio Marsh whom I've never read before, so this has been a good way to dip my toe into their styles.

I expect to read about one story per night for the next month; then I'll put the book away till next Christmas.

You know, I was thinking it might be a good idea if we used spoiler tags this month for spoilers, as I doubt I'm the only one who hasn't finished all the stories in this one yet. In fact, knowing my schedule for the rest of the year, I know I won't be finishing it in 2015, or at least I doubt very seriously I will. So, if you will, might we all use spoiler tags this month only when discussing spoilers?

Sure. I'll just make some general comments here, though, nothing spoilery.

I'm about three-quarters of the way through. I'm glad we chose this. It's been a fun read for December and not too challenging at a busy time; it also lends itself to being picked up and put down at odd moments. I expect to finish it by the end of the month.

I used to love mysteries but have gone off them. That said, I enjoyed meeting old friends when I cracked this and stories were a good way to get back into the groove, as none lasts long enough to stale. As you'd expect from a book of this sort, some were more to my taste than others and I some were just better than others, frankly; the Meredith Nicholson story dragged and has not stood the test of time, as Penzler said in his introduction. I didn't care for the Holmes's pastiches, but I'm not a Holmes fan. Also, I think I was looking for cozy or uplift in a Christmas story and some of the stories that were tawdry or tragic didn't sit as well, but they added to the overall appeal of the book, as too much of a kind would have staled. As you'd also expect, there were homages to a few classic Christmas tales and I thought they were a tad too predictable; but again, I think the collection would have been lacking without them.

That all sounds negative, which is not what I meant or my reaction. It's easier to discuss flaws than strengths, especially not getting into particulars. One standout for me was Peter Lovesey's Haunted Crescent; I giggled at the Westlake story. Too many goodies to mention, really. This is a superior collection with something for almost everyone.

Tom, could you please give us directions regarding how to insert a spoiler in our comment?

I'm not Tom, but there are two ways to spoilerize a text. Either go to advanced reply rather than quick and click on the icon of the eye with the X over it, and then type your text between the commands. Or do it manually; type spoiler in brackets, then your text, then /spoiler in brackets.

Hit quote to my comment above and you can see the formatting.

Thanks issy!

Manually inserted, the tags look like this when you type them in:

[spoiler]This text is enclosed within SPOILER tags.[/spoiler]

And the result it produces looks like this:



(Interestingly, this post, when viewed in Tapatalk, shows two spoilers. Tapatalk evidently ignores the NOPARSE tags I added to the second line of this post.)

I haven't finished this book and it is unlikely that I will do this year. But I think it is a marvellous selection. :) I am skipping around through the various sub-sections and by and large the stories are very enjoyable. It is one of the best value buys I have made.

My thoughts on the tales I’ve read so far from The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries by Otto Penzler:

“The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding” by Agatha Christie.



“Gold, Frankincense and Murder” by Catherine Aird.



“Boxing Unclever” by Robert Barnard



“The Proof of the Pudding” By Peter Lovesey.



“The Adventure of the Dauphin’s Doll” by Ellery Queen.



“More Than Flesh and Blood” by Susan Moody.

I've read the first two of the stories in this so far (and am continuing to sample as the month goes on). The first one, a Hercule Poirot, was typical of Agatha Christie's Poirot stories--I'm not sure I would enjoy it nearly as much if I hadn't already seen David Suchet playing the part. But with that background, I _did_ enjoy it.

The second story left me completely unmoved and unimpressed.

More to come. :)

I was struck by the ending of Pat Frank's The Christmas Bogey - specifically the comment of the liaison officer.

I think the comment was correct, and explains the controversies we have had for the past twenty years; controversies started by people who perhaps don't understand what they are asking for.

December 2015 Discussion: The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries (spoilers)
 

“The Butler’s Christmas Eve” by Mary Roberts Rinehart didn’t seem like much of a mystery to me, as the ending was much too tidy, but it was a great and very enjoyable Christmas story. I really liked the headstrong characters, William the butler, the stubborn “old man” and the equally stubborn Sally. As a whodunit, it fails in my opinion, but the characters are so likable they more than atone for the lack.



The intro to “The Trinity Cat” by Ellis Peters led me to believe this was going to be a Brother Cadfael story (although I was wondering why it was written in first person). It wasn’t until one of the parishioners mentioned “a gramophone record for my little errand-boy” that I realized I wasn’t back in the Middle Ages. :smack:

The solution to the puzzle:



Favorite lines from this story:

• “And one mustn’t forget our dumb friends, either, must one?” said Miss Patience cheerfully. [Yes, I know she was speaking of animals, but I got a kick out of taking it the other way.]

• Unusual for [the cat] to be effusive, but when he did decide on it, it was always with someone who couldn’t stand cats. You’ll have noticed it’s a way they have. [True.]

• A kid’s crime, a teenager’s crime. Or the crime of a permanent teenager. They start at twelve years old now, but there are also the shiftless louts who never get beyond twelve years old, even in their forties.

It took me nine days to read all the stories. Unsurprising for a book four time bigger than most novels. A truly "Big Book".

And I liked them all. The stories varied in tone and style, and represented most of the well-known authors and detectives.

With the Ellery Queen took a while to get used to the writing style, and I still found it a little contrived.

A most enjoyable Christmas read.

What I didn't really notice when reading what that the stories are supposedly grouped by theme.

I also didn't notice that he's topped and tailed the book with Agatha Christie! Hercule Poirot to start, and Miss Marple to finish.

A very good choice for the December book, and I greatly enjoyed reading it.

OK, I'm well aware that many of you are more sophisticated than both Jean the Shrimp Shrimpton and me, but could someone please explain to me the meaning of the last line of A Christmas Tragedy? I don't get it.

Obviously, big spoiler

Thanks Paul!

I enjoyed the trio of stories in "A Pulpy Little Christmas". Perhaps the second item was a little too much like an O Henry tale but still pleasant.

So far, there have been a couple which stood out for me as being true Christmas stories. One was The Christmas Bogie, which I mentioned above. The other was The Butler's Christmas Eve. And I guess the Ellery Queen as well.

Right now it seems to me that many just mention Christmas Eve in passing, and then get on with the story.

Some of us consider yesterday to be the end of the Christmas season, as it was the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus.

So I have put the book away, with 11 stories left for next year.

I agree with fantasyfan that I liked the pulpy stories the best, but that came as no surprise.

In addition to the stories mentioned above in post #19, I particularly enjoyed Peter Todd's Herlock Sholmes's Christmas Case.

Yes, those were quite enjoyable too. ;)

I still have many more of these stories to read.

So I will be spending this Christmas season carrying on with this book, and I invite everyone so inclined to join me!

Great idea.

I finished last night. The stories which I had saved till last were the "scary" selections.

Re-reading this thread, I think I could re-read the stories from last year and not remember the endings!