Christmas, a time for family gatherings, presents and happiness. I love Christmas, but it can be a very challenging time. Lots of work to get done before the end of the year, countless invitations, thinking about presents for everyone, preparing menus for the many parties at home. Sometimes it’s hard not to wish it was the 26th of December… and that’s if you don’t have to celebrate Boxing Day. That is why I like the idea of Christmas crimes, to get away from the Christmas atmosphere. I have wanted to read these books for several years, just before Christmas, to appreciate the contrast. This list was curated by Peter Swanson, who wrote Rules for Perfect Murders. He claims that all these novels are “worth an evening with a good bottle of your favourite drink at hand”. He also claims that Die Hard is definitely a Christmas film.
The 10 Christmas crimes
The Thin Man – Dashiell Hammett (1934)
Hercule Poirot’s Christmas – Agatha Christie (1938)
The Case of the Abominable Snowman (also published as The Corpse in the Snowman) – Nicholas Blake (1941)
An English Murder – Cyril Hare (1951)
The Long Shadow – Celia Fremlin (1975)
The Ice Harvest – Scott Phillips (2000)
Money, Money, Money – Ed McBain (2001)
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson (2005)
A Fatal Grace – Louise Penny (2011)
The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories – P.D. James (2016)