Mistletoe Mysteries, an anthology of original Christmas mystery stories from 1989, delivers some entertaining mysteries with a Yuletide theme. My favorite story in this anthology is Dorothy Salisbury Davis’s “Christopher and Maggie.” Christopher is a struggling magician in the Great Depression and Maggie is a young woman who would love to teach History but given the harsh economic times, works for Christopher as his “lovely assistant.” Christopher believes Maggie brings “class” to his act. The pair travel from town to town and on their way home for Christmas, they get involved in a bizarre crime.
I also enjoyed Bill Pronzini’s “Here Comes Santa Claus.” Pronzini’s Nameless detective gets talked into being “Santa” for a charity event. Of course, there’s an unexpected theft and Nameless finds himself in the middle of the crime…in a Santa suit!
I’m a big fan of Edward D. Hoch’s Simon Ark series of mysteries involving bizarre crimes. In “The Touch of Kolyada,” Simon Ark confronts a mythical woman from Russian history, Kolyada, who gives presents to children just before Christmas. But, the murder of a professor in the Russian Department of a university casts a more sinister shadow on Kolyada.
If you’re looking for a fun anthology of Christmas mysteries, I recommend Mistletoe Mysteries. The variety of stories provides something for every readers’ taste. GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- Charlotte MacLeod: A Cozy for Christmas — 1
- Peter Lovesey: The Haunted Crescent — 38
- Dorothy Salisbury Davis: Christopher and Maggie — 66
- Eric Wright: Kaput — 94
- John Lutz: The Live Tree — 124
- Howard Engel: The Three Wise Guys — 142
- Mary Higgins Clark: That’s the Ticket — 163
- Bill Pronzini: Here Comes Santa Claus — 193
- Sharyn McCrumb: A Wee Doch and Doris — 220
- Henry Slesar: The Man Who Loved Christmas — 245
- Edward D. Hoch: The Touch of Kolyada — 274
- Aaron Elkins: Dutch Treat –307
- Susan Dunlap: Ott on a Limb — 335
- Isaac Asimov: Ho! Ho! Ho! — 360
- Marcia Muller: Silent Night — 375
That’s a good lineup of writers she brought onboard. A few of them are still around.
Patti, I’ve had MISTLETOE MYSTERIES on my shelf since it was published. Finally, I got around to reading it!
I”m sure i read it back when it was published but remember nothing about any of the stories. Good selection of writers of the time.
Maggie, I bought MISTLETOE MYSTERIES but only read it over 30 years later! A great group of writers and a variety of stories that will appeal to a diverse readership.
It sounds like a fun collection, especially given your high praise. I have a couple of Christmas anthologies I need to dive into during this last month of the year.
Carl, I usually read a few Christmas anthologies this time of year, too. MISTLETOE MYSTERIES is very good!
Great choice!
Back in the mid-’90s when I first started systematically reading at least one short story a day, I went through my shelves and pulled out every collection and anthology I hadn’t read, and this was one of the first I read. There were no weak writers in this group and several favorites – Hoch and Pronzini, Lovesey and Lutz and Muller.
Jeff, you’re right about the great stories in MISTLETOE MYSTERIES! It’s one of the stronger Christmas anthologies I’ve read. Like you, I really liked the Hoch and Pronzini stories.
I gave up on holiday anthologies a few years back after a terrible Christmas ghost anthology. This one looks good though. I don’t own a copy but will keep an eye out for it.
The cover artist made a blunder: the red-flowered plant in the corners framing the title is not mistletoe, but holly. (Maybe the working title was Holly Huggermuggery…)
Frank, I’ve read several Christmas mystery anthologies and MISTLETOE MYSTERIES is one of the best. I’ll have a couple more reviews of these types of books in the weeks ahead. Impressive eye for plants!
Based on my records, I have read nine stories from this anthology. I also liked the Bill Pronzini story a lot. Maybe I will finish up reading the rest of the stories this year.
Tracy, I’m a big Pronzini fan so I really enjoyed Nameless in a Santa suit!
And, damn, I received a review copy of this one and it went into a moving box and I’m not sure it ever made its way back out…given the contributors, I’m sure I would’ve read it by now. I certainly hope it wasn’t among the ruined books over the years…
Todd, would you like me to send you a copy of MISTLETOE MYSTERIES. I have multiple copies.
Seems like a strong collection, George. Haven’t read any of these.
Neeru, there are some inexpensive copies of MISTLETOE MYSTERIES online. And, of course, some libraries still have it. Well worth reading!