Christmas Mystery Thriller

A short story from British Library Crime Classic The Christmas Card Crime and Other Stories. In this festive short story featuring Francis Durbridge’s favourite debonair amateur detective, Paul Temple journeys to Switzerland to identify an elusive criminal.

Each year, for 17 years, Mysterious Bookshop proprietor Otto Penzler commissioned an original Christmas story by a leading suspense writer. These stories were then produced as pamphlets, just 1,000 copies, and given to customers of the bookstore as a Christmas present. Now, all 17 tales have been collected in one volume.

In a gloomy flat off Islington High Street, Chief Inspector Brett Nightingale and Sergeant Beddoes find an old woman dead. The Princess Olga Karukhin, who fled from Russia at the time of the Revolution, has lived in terror of being discovered ever since. Olga's grandson, Ivan, appears to have run from the scene but is later seen returning to the flat as though oblivious to the terrible crime. Taking place between 22nd and 24th December, Nightingale's enquiry takes him across London, culminating in the wrapping up of the mystery on Christmas Eve.

Christmas on South Carolina’s Folly Beach is a time for festivities, families, friendship, fellowship, and reflection. When a fire ruled intentionally set leaves residents of five apartments homeless days before the holiday, retired bureaucrat Chris Landrum and his friend Charles Fowler take it upon themselves to not only make sure the displaced residents have somewhere to live but are determined to learn who was responsible for the massive conflagration.

Chris Landrum is dragged out of peaceful retirement when the theft of a priceless, hand-carved figurine from a church’s nativity scene threatens to suck the spirit of Christmas out of Folly Beach. If that's not bad enough, pieces of valuable jewelry and surfboards are stolen off homeowners’ porches on the small, South Carolina island located in the shadows of historic Charleston.

It’s a wedding right after Christmas in the scenic ski resort town of Taos, New Mexico. Libby, Greg and Shadow, along with Lexi and her family head to Taos for a vacation and to attend Greg’s college friend's wedding. Not long after the ceremony, the groom goes missing, and Libby’s group is pulled into the mystery of finding out where he could possibly have gone.

The quaint town of Hart's Ridge glistens with holiday magic each Christmas, as festive lights and holiday attractions draw visitors to its charming streets. This year, Deputy Taylor Gray is enjoying a quieter holiday at home, fully embracing her new role in the midst of family festivities. But peace and goodwill are shattered on Christmas Eve when four bodies are discovered and two children are left as orphans.

Christmas arrives early in Rescue, Alaska, as the search-and-rescue team is tasked with finding a missing Santa. With a new mystery to solve and a holiday decorating contest to bring light to the long days of winter, the town is steeped in holiday cheer until a surprising murder puts a damper on the annual festivities. Meanwhile, Harmony tries to help Houston find the Christmas spirit, while Harley is surprised by a visitor from the north.

When former celebrity chef Jackie Norwood travels to Haymes, Oklahoma, for the annual Honey Festival, she expects a few sticky situations—but not a murder. What was supposed to be a lighthearted holiday trip to her cameraman Greg's hometown takes a dark turn when Emily, Greg's sister, finds her ex-husband dead while he was attempting to steal her beehives. With Emily quickly becoming the prime suspect, Jackie is pulled into a hive's worth of hearsay, hostility, and hidden histories. Now, Jackie must uncover the truth and catch the real killer before someone else gets stung.

Chris Landrum and his friend Barbara Deanelli’s search for shark teeth abruptly changes directions when they discover a woman at water’s edge clinging to a surfboard. How she got there was a mystery - a mystery compounded when she doesn’t remember her name, her past, or who abducted her, and nearly sent her to her death in the mid-December waters off the coast of Folly Beach, South Carolina. Chris and a cadre of his quirky pals are determined to learn the woman’s identity and what happened.

When Detective Kate Rosetti is startled awake in the middle of the night by a phone call from her mother, she knows it’s not good news. It turns out Kate’s father, the notorious Angelo Rosetti, is missing. There are no witnesses and no leads, and with only a week to go before Christmas, Kate hopes to find her father before the New Year. As Kate begins the hunt for her father, she gets another case added to her plate at the precinct.

Mary Higgins Clark, the Queen of Suspense, celebrates the season with this unforgettable Christmas classic featuring two of her most beloved characters and a new foreword. All of Alvirah’s deductive powers and Willy’s world-class common sense are called upon as the two stumble into a...

In the New England town of Frog's Ledge, the Holiday Light Festival is a Christmas tradition. Killing Santa is not. To bring joy back to the season, organic pet patisserie owner Kristan "Stan" Connor will have to find another Santa before it's too late . . . To the townspeople's delight, the annual lighting of the tree is a spectacular success. Unfortunately, Santa pulled up in his sleigh, DOA. At first Stan is sure it's Seamus, her boyfriend's uncle, inside the red suit. But the victim turns out to be an employee from the town's Christmas tree farm.

Charlene's parents are in town for Christmas, and her mother is driving her up a tree. Her bed-and-breakfast's resident ghost, Jack, isn't fond of her either - and he's showing it with some haunting high jinks. But when Charlene takes her mom and dad out for dinner, the less-than-seasonal spirits take a deadly turn.

A few days before Christmas 1939, Dr. Benjamin Bones is in a "Bah, humbug" sort of mood. It's the coldest winter on record, his country is at war, and his love life has run aground. But magic as well as mysteries abound in Cornwall. When Ben makes a bargain with an elfin little man, it leads him to an old woman who longs to make amends - and a chance for Ben to show that certain someone how much he cares.

It’s been a long school year down in sunny Somerset, Florida, and it’s only halfway over. Logan, a teacher, and his freshman son Ulysses are really looking forward to their long Christmas break together, especially after both Adairs nearly died solving the one percent murders earlier in the school year. They are both in need of a nice, relaxing family Christmas break. So they go back to their New England roots, up in Maine. It will be a classic Maine Christmas at Logan’s parents’ new Victorian bed and breakfast on a small island on the Kennebec River.

Thomas Pitt's sister-in-law, Emily Radley, is suddenly called from London to be with her dying aunt. Leaving her husband and two children behind, she makes the long journey to her aunt's home in Connemara, an all-but-forgotten town on the coast of Western Ireland. Emily soon discovers that a tragic legacy is haunting the once close-knit community. Violent storms ravage the coast and keep alive painful memories of an unsolved murder-and unsettling fears that a culprit may still be among them.

A drive-by murder signals the end of a relaxed Christmas. Donna refuses to accept that organized crime is moving into town, but to do so, she must find the murderer. In the meantime, she needs to host a Victorian tea, pin down a certain detective's romantic intentions, keep a boozy Santa sober, deal with a cursed clown doll, and hide a hunky underwear model. It's just another holiday at The Painted Lady Inn.

Right before Christmas, Fair Haven is celebrating its annual Ice Fishing Jubilee. When a bad-mannered lawyer is found frozen to death inside his fishing shack, the police soon discover he was really shot. The prime suspect is local ice-fishing legend Jim Campbell, but Maggie thinks he is innocent. The culprit could be the long-suffering wife or the mistress, and soon, Maggie is off doing her own investigating, dragging Joshua along for the ride. As her boss, Joshua couldn’t possibly be romantically interested in her. So why did he hold her so close at the town dance?

Axel’s parents are visiting for the holiday and Pepper wants things to go smoothly. But when his mom insults the town Scrooge things turn rocky fast. Worse, when the town Scrooge is murdered, fingers quickly point to Axel’s mom.