01 | December | 2010 | Eleventh Stack

Murder!

I know, I know. You’re all going to start thinking that I hate the holidays, since my last post talked about how depressing they could be, and this one is about death and mayhem during the season. But I swear, it’s not true. I love the holidays with their colorful decorations, tasty food, friends and family gathered together, present-opening and the snow. (Yes, I even like snow!) But a blogger does need a topic to write about, and since I love mysteries, especially the cozy ones, this topic seems to fit.

So here is a list of newish holiday themed mysteries the library owns. If you can barely keep from murdering your family during the holidays, maybe you’d like to read about someone else’s demise at the hands of another.

Busy Body: An Agatha Raisin Mystery by M.C. Beaton. A new town officer shows up and bans holiday decorations. Agatha Raisin is called upon to find his killer when he is murdered. That will teach you to be a Scrooge!

Gingerbread Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke, Laura Levine and Leslie Meier. A trio of gingerbread themed cozies. First, someone is found murdered next to a box of cookies. Second, the lead in a local theatre production dies in the final scene. Lastly, a young boy disappears and the race is on to find him. Wow, cookies really are bad for you. Recipes included!

Forbidden Fruit: A Corinna Chapman Mystery by Kerry Greenwood. Two runaway teens (one about to give birth), a rosewater muffin loving donkey, scorching Australian summer in December and a gaggle of carol singing vegans. What more could you want from a holiday mystery?

Christmas Mourning by Margaret Maron. Teenagers in town are dying, first in car crashes and then by murder. Turns out there are connections to a crime from years ago. Will the mystery be solved before more people’s holidays are ruined?

Christmas at the Mysterious Bookshop: ‘Tis the Season to Be Deadly: Stories of Mistletoe and Mayhem from 17 Masters of Suspense edited by Otto Penzler. Some of the biggest names in mystery and suspense contribute stories to an annual tradition at Penzler’s famous Mysterious Bookstore in Manhattan. Each year, Penzler asks a writer to set a short story in his shop and gives the piece out to his customers as a holiday gift. This is the first published compilation of those stories.

A Christmas Odyssey: A Novel by Anne Perry. Mathematician Henry Rathbone enlists help in locating the son of a friend. Before long they realize the missing young man works for people who belong on Santa’s naughty list and Rathbone and company have to help him get out.