Christmas music has been blaring in stores and on local radio stations since the day after Halloween. I like Christmas music, but there is so much mediocre Christmas music out there that I have to resort to listening to my own Christmas CDs when I’m driving around or at home.
I became an Enya fan back in 1988 when I heard Watermark. Then I bought all of Enya’s albums as they were released. And Winter Came (2008) presents Christmas songs you’re not likely to hear in stores or on the local radio. But, they are beautifully arranged and sung by Enya. If you want to get into the Christmas spirit, listen to And Winter Came and feel the real joy of the season! GRADE: A
I’ve been a fan of Martin Edwards’s mystery anthologies for years. Who Killed Father Christmas and Other Seasonal Mysteries is the fifth Christmas anthology Edwards has published with the British Library Crime Classics (aka, Poisoned Pen Press). The other four anthologies are Silent Nights, Crimson Snow, The Christmas Card Crime, and A Surprise for Christmas.
I also enjoyed the title story, Patricia Moyes’s “Who Killed Father Christmas” about the murder of a department store Santa. My favorite story in this anthology is “Secrets in the Snow” by J. Jefferson Farjeon. Since it’s snowing now outside my window, the story resonated with me.
Who Killed Father Christmas (2025) blends a number of various Christmas mysteries, some serious, some not. I enjoyed Peter Todd’s clever “Herlock Sholmes’ Christmas Case.” Back in 1976, Mysterious Press published The Adventures of Herlock Sholmes, but this story wasn’t included.
If you’re in the mood for a Christmas mystery anthology, Who Killed Father Christmas and Other Seasonal Mysteries should be at the top of your wish list. GRADE: B
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction / Martin Edwards — vii
A Note From the Publisher –xi
On the Irish Mail / Garnett Radcliffe — 1
The Christmas Thief / Frank Howel Evans — 16
The Christmas Spirit / Anthony Gilbert — 50
Among Those Present Was Santa Claus / Vincent Cornier — 69
Gold, Frankincense, and Murder / Catherine Aird — 80
Secrets in the Snow / J. Jefferson Farjeon — 101
Who Killed Father Christmas? / Patricia Moyes — 123
Death at Christmas / Glyn Daniel — 137
Scotland Yard’s Christmas / John Dickson Carr — 152
The Bird of Dawning / Michael Gilbert — 165
The Christmas Train / Will Scott — 186
The Grey Monk / Gerald Verner — 202
Who Suspects the Postman? / Michael Innes — 214
Herlock Sholmes’ Christmas Case / Peter Todd — 221
I DVRed all six episodes of PBS Masterpiece‘s Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light last year. The sticking point was finding time to read Hilary Mantel’s 761 page novel that the series was based on. Fortunately, I finally read Mantel’s tome from 2020 while waiting eight hours at the Buffalo Airport for Diane and her sister Carol to arrive from JFK during the Government Shutdown.
The Mirror and the Light is the third book in Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell trilogy (you can read my reviews of Wolf Hall (2009) and Bring Up the Bodies (2012) here). Mantel’s story of the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell is chilling. King Henry VIII is a psychopath whose moods can lead to someone dying. Henry Tudor, played brilliantly by Damian Lewis, faces popular unrest as a result of his break with Rome and the establishment of the Church of England. Henry also needs a son. Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light starts with an execution so Henry can marry again.
Mark Rylance plays the dutiful Thomas Cromwell with great authenticity. Cromwell knows he serves a half-mad King and an England perilously in danger of internal dissension and foreign intrigue. Throughout the PBS series and Mantel’s historical novels, the treacherous path of power in the Court threatens Cromwell despite his successes.
Maybe it’s just the times we live in, but Henry VIII acts in very Trumpian ways. He rages, he threatens, he kills, he commits incredible cruelties, he dresses up in an absurd Turkish costume. Cromwell is urged to leave England and return to Antwerp where he once found happiness by a family member. But Cromwell stays and accepts his Fate.
If you’re a fan of historical dramas, you’ll love this Thomas Crowell trilogy. But be prepared to endure some pain and suffering at the atrocities committed by the King and his duplicitous Court. GRADE: A
“The hypothesis of this book is that suicide epidemics appear wherever a culture based on mutual aid, respect, and belonging suddenly gives way to world of anonymous market transactions, individualism, and formal institutions, and, at the same time, a demonstrative love culture is weak.” (p.115)
Helen C. Epstein’s short but powerful book presents the latest research into suicide. It’s no secret that the Holidays trigger a spike in suicides. But in Chapter 5, “What is Haunting America’s Veterans”, I learned the vast majority of veterans who had taken their lives were abused as children. In Chapter 3, “Russia’s Traumatic Transition”, I learned that half the men in Russia are alcoholics–and that greatly increases the rate of suicides.
Many people who commit suicide suffer from depression…but only 1% of depression sufferers resort to suicide. “The age-adjusted suicide rate in the U.S. was 14.1 per 100,000 in 2023, after reaching 14.2 per 100,000 in 2022. In 2023, men died by suicide at a rate 3.8 times higher than women, and white males accounted for the majority of suicide deaths. The highest age-specific rates were for those aged 85 and older (22.7 per 100,000) and the lowest were for those aged 10–14 (2.3 per 100,000).”
Why Live documents the attempts to deal with suicide as a societal problem. Epstein suggests capitalism, transactional social interactions, and rigid working conditions that steal all creativity and purpose from a job contribute to the problem of suicide. No job, living in poverty, debts, poor health, and a sense of powerlessness makes suicide an attractive option. GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION — 8
CHAPTER ONE: The Inuit: The Highest Suicide Rate in the World — 27
CHAPTER TWO: Sturm und Drang in Micronesia — 42
CHAPTER THREE: Russia’s Traumatic Transition –56
CHAPTER FOUR: Deaths of Despair in America’s Heartland — 74
CHAPTER FIVE: What is Haunting American’s Veterans? — 87
Temps should be about 20 degrees at the Kick-Off of the Bengals vs. Bills game with a chance of snow. The Bills are favored by 5 1/2 points but their starting lineup is riddled with injuries. The Smart Money (aka, Vegas odds makers) suggest the Bills should run, run, run the ball to keep it out of Joe Burrow’s hands. Burrow has had the Buffalo Bills number in critical games in the Past. Last week, Burrow lit up the Ravens. Will he do it again to the Bills?
If you decide to watch Oh. What. Fun.–AMAZON Prime Video’s new Christmas movie–do yourself a favor and just watch the last 20 minutes.
Michelle Pfeiffer plays Christmas-obsessed mother, Claire Clauster, who feels–deservedly so–taken for granted by her detached husband (Denis Leary), and her three self-absorbed children: novel writer Channing (Felicity Jones), Taylor (Chloë Grace Moretz) who shows up with a new girl friend every Christmas, and Sammy (Dominic Sessa) whose “job” is yearly three-month stint as a Summer Camp Counselor–in essence, a dud.
While Claire does all the Christmas preparations, her family does nothing to help her. They argue and fight instead. When the family unintentionally abandons Claire–think Home Alone–Claire sets out on her own journey which through some quirks of Fate, makes her an national icon.
Skip the tedious family in-fighting and predictable Christmas nonsense–which is NOT a lot of fun–and go right to the heart of this insipid movie: the last 20 minutes. Or skip the whole movie. GRADE: D (for dumb)
I consider Michael Gambon’s performance of Maigret to be just about perfect. Therefore, seeing a young Benjamin Wainwright starring as Maigret was a bit disconcerting. I wasn’t sure I wanted to watch this new series…but eventually I relented.
Simenon’s novel was first published in 1961. I reread it before I watched the PBS version. Other than the death of the Lazy Burglar and the bank robbers, the new rendition of Maigret features a good looking Benjamin Wainwright, with a scruffy beard and a shirt that’s never tucked in, investigating crimes while pushing back on the bureaucracy.
Wainwright’s Maigret works in a contemporary Police Station with computers and Internet and all the forensic extras–none of which were in Simenon’s novel. What is kept of Simenon’s chief of detectives is that both the novel and the TV series have a very capable crime solver. I enjoyed the first installment of the PBS Maigret series and will continue watching it. GRADE: B
I’ve been a fan of Kelly Clarkson for some time and decided to give her Christmas album, Wrapped in Red (2013), a listen.
The standard Christmas songs, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “Run Run Rudolph,” “Please Come Home For Christmas,” “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” “White Christmas,” “My Favorite Things,” and “Silent Night” all sound…Christmassy!
What makes this Christmas album different are the newer songs, and one cover. “Underneath the Tree,” really grabbed my attention. “Winter Dreams” and “Just for Now”–a cover of an Imogen Heap song–are special. If you’re looking for a different Christmas album for the season, you might try this blend of old and new songs sung superbly by Kelly Clarkson. Do you see any of your Christmas favorites here? GRADE: B+
I’ve been a fan of the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child for years. Otto Penzler, editor of Mysterious Press, is also a Jack Reacher fan. Otto asked Lee Child if he was interested in a limited, exclusive edition of the Jack Reacher series. Child agreed and the publishing processes began. Otto also asked Child if he would write a short essay for each Jack Reacher volume explaining how the book came about. Child agreed to that, too.
Those short essays have now been collected in Reacher: The Stories Behind the Stories. If you’re a Jack Reacher fan, you’ll be delighted by the detail Child provides about genesis of each Jack Reacher book.
My favorite story in Reacher is how Lee Child wrote Make Me while being observed by an academic who wanted to study Child’s writing process. That is all explained in Andy Martin’s Reacher Said Nothing: Lee Child and the Making of MAKE ME (2015) (you can read my review here).
And, as a bonus, Reacher includes a new Jack Reacher short story: “A Better Place.”
If you have a Jack Reacher fan on your Gift List, Reacher would be perfect! GRADE: A
I DVRed Moonflower Murders back in 2024. I had read Anthony Horowitz’s book of the same title back in 2020. Moonflower Murders is the second Susan Ryeland (Lesley Manville) and Atticus Pünd (Tim McMullan) mystery in the series (Marble Hall Murders published in May 2025 is the third and possibly final book in the series).
Moonflower Murders begins with Susan Ryeland lured back to England by a couple whose daughter has gone missing after she announced she knew who murdered a guest at her parent’s hotel eight years ago. The daughter had read Atticus Pund Takes the Case and claimed a clue in the book reveals the real killer. And then, she disappeared.
The frantic parents offer Susan Ryeland £10,000 to try to find their missing daughter. The hotel on Crete that Susan and her boyfriend Andreas (Alexandros Logothetis) are operating is struggling. And infusion of cash could save the operation so Susan agrees to investigate. The parents are convinced that Susan–who was the editor for Atticus Pund Takes the Case–will discover the same clue that their daughter did.
Like the first book, Magpie Murders (2016), the chapters alternate between the real world and Atticus Pünd’s fictional world. I’ve enjoyed all three Susan Ryeland and Atticus Pünd mysteries and I’m looking forward to the third PBS series likely to be broadcast in early 2026. GRADE: A
