Guest post written by author Rhys Bowen
Rhys Bowen, a New York Times bestselling author, has been nominated for every major award in mystery writing, including the Edgar®, and has won many, including both the Agatha and Anthony awards. She is also the author of the Molly Murphy Mysteries, set in turn-of-the-century New York, and the Constable Evans Mysteries, set in Wales as well as two internationally bestselling stand alone novels. She was born in England and now divides her time between Northern California and Arizona. God Rest Ye, Royal Gentlemen releases on October 12th 2021.
There is something about a mystery novel that lends itself to Christmas. The expectations: the crackling fire logs burning in the hearth, the sound of Christmas carols, the smell of turkey roasting, the mistletoe over the door. Reading about these creates in us that warm and fuzzy remembrances of Christmases past and feeling of goodwill to all. So when a crime occurs it is doubly unnerving, shattering a place of peace and safety at the wrong time.
This makes Christmas mysteries some of the most compelling. Having just finished my fourth Christmas mystery I know how this can play with the reader’s emotions. Actually it plays with mine, writing it. As I create that perfect Christmas Eve scene, knowing what my readers don’t, that evil lurks somewhere nearby, I find that my own heart is racing.
So I’ve compiled a list of what I consider to be classic Christmas mysteries—some for every taste from the very tense to the very cozy. My twelve mysteries of Christmas!
- Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie: You can’t get more classic cozy mystery than Dame Agatha and this is Poirot at his best. At a country house party with the patriarch of the family murdered in a seemingly impossible way and everyone in the house with a motive. Delicious.
- Silent Night by Mary Higgins Clark: Another queen of her genre, this is a tale of harrowing suspense on what should be the calmest night of the year. A stolen wallet. A missing child. And a miracle ending. Perfect.
- A Highland Christmas, M.C. Beaton: This is Hamish Mcbeth at his best in an area of Scotland where strict Calvinist principles decry any merriment. A good eye opener into a different kind of Christmas.
- A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny: Not exactly a Christmas story but a murder in Three Pines as the town prepares for Christmas and who could have a list without Louise Penny in it?
- The Christmas Train by David Baldacci: A jaded lawyer on a cross country train learns the meaning of Christmas.
- Jeffries and the Three Wise Women by Emily Brightwell: I love it when three unlikely women get together to solve a murder that has baffled the police.
- Slay Bells by Kate Kingsbury: A Pennyfoot hotel mystery when the santa is murdered before he can hand out the gifts. Classic cozy with a hotel setting.
- Lark the Herald Angels Sing by Donna Andrews: The author has several Christmas themed mysteries in her Meg Lanslow bird-titled cozy series. All are over-the-top hilarious and just right to read if you don’t want to be dark and gloomy around the holidays.
- Six Cats a Slayin’ by Miranda James: Another ultimate cozy for Christmas with Diesel the library cat. Librarian Charlie and Diesel are in the throes of decoration when a basket of five kittens arrives on his doorstep. Then his nosy neighbor dies at her own party. Can they wrap up the case in time to celebrate?
- The Twelve Clues of Christmas by Rhys Bowen: I couldn’t finish this list without including some of my own mysteries. This is the ultimate country house puzzle with someone in the village dying every day in the manner of the song. Fun to write, fun to read.
- Away in a Manger by Rhys Bowen: In New York, 1905, Molly Murphy is preparing for Christmas when she hears a sweet voice and sees a beggar child huddled in a doorway. But the child is English and well-spoken. Who has turned her out at this time?
- The Ghost of Christmas Past by Rhys Bowen: Molly Murphy and family attend a house party outside New York and immediately feel the tension in the air. Years ago the couple’s young daughter wandered out into the snow and was never seen again. Is this a mystery that can be solved?
I hope you enjoy reading these: I’ve included some for every taste and I hope you’ll add my new book, GOD REST YE ROYAL GENTLEMEN, to your list of favorites. A Royal Spyness book, featuring Lady Georgiana, 35th in line to the throne and a Christmas mystery involving her royal kin at Sandringham House.
