CHRISTMAS CRIMES AT THE MYSTERIOUS BOOKSHOP

A collection of 13 stories commissioned separately over the years as Christmas gifts to patrons of the world’s oldest extant mystery bookstore.

The stories range “from humorous to suspenseful to heartwarming,” editor/proprietor Penzler notes in his introduction, but they all take place at Christmas, are set at least in part at his Mysterious Bookshop, and involve a mystery. Some are actual crime stories, such as “The Gift of King Herod” by Brendan DuBois, Rob Hart’s “The Gift of the Wiseguy,” “The Christmas Party” by Jeffery Deaver, Tom Mead’s “Hester’s Gift,” and Ragnar Jónasson’s “A Christmas Puzzle.” Some have just a whiff of crime: Loren D. Estleman’s “Wolfe Trap” and David Gordon’s “Sergeant Santa,” for example. And some, such as Jason Starr’s “Black Christmas” and Lyndsay Faye’s “A Midnight Clear,” feature no real crimes, just bad choices. Mystery writers themselves take center stage in “Secret Santa” by  Ace Atkins, Thomas Perry’s “Here We Come A-Wassailing,” and “End Game” by  Martin Edwards. Laura Lippman’s “Snowflake Time” deserves special notice for its prescience. First published in 2017, it’s the tale of a loudmouthed journalist whose air of sweet reasonableness masks his small-minded, misogynistic views and his special animus toward single women who love cats. He gets his. Crime-rich or crime-free, the stories are all refreshingly good-natured and, in the spirit of the season, lean toward peace on earth and good will to most.

A must for every mystery lover’s wish list.