The Christmas Card Crime and other stories is edited by Martin Edwards and is a British Library Crime Classic.
This compilation of eleven Christmas/winter themed vintage crime short stories is as you would expect a bit of a mixed bunch, but that means that there will surely be something to suit everyone. Each short story is preceded by a short biography of the author, which I found interesting.
For me it was the story from which the title of the book came which was most successful. The Christmas Card Crime was written by Donald Stuart. Some of the stories are sooo short, and I can’t help thinking that the author used up a good idea which could have been worked up into something a lot longer and for me more inetresting. I suppose that just means that I’m not a big fan of short stories, well not very short ones anyway.
The other authors featuring in this anthology are:
Baroness Orczy
Selwyn Jepson
Ronald Knox
Carter Dickson
Francis Durbridge
Cyril Hare
E.C.R. Lorac
John Bude
John Bingham
Julian Symons
The book cover is taken from a vintage travel poster.
Love the travel poster and book cover. I’m not crazy about short stories, so I doubt I’ll read this one.
Joan,
I think I bought this one for the Christmas theme, but I don’t think I realised it was short stories, although it’s over a year since I bought it – maybe two.
I’ve really got into short stories recently thanks to all the ones the BL has published, but I still find crime ones less satisfying than either horror or science fiction. There’s not really enough room to develop a proper plot, I think. However, I usually find they include one or two longer ones which work better.
FictionFan,
I agree, that was the set up of this book, there were one or two longer stories, I think one was only three pages though!
I’ve enjoyed the short stories in these collections more than some of the novels that have been reprinted in the series, though I agree they’re always a mixed bag. I also enjoy the quick biographical notes. I thought I knew something about the Golden Age writers, but reading these has introduced me to so many authors I’d never heard of before.
Lisa,
I must admit that some of the books have left me baffled as to why they had been reprinted, but like you they’ve introduced me to previously unkonwn authors that I’ve really liked.
The cover is beautiful, and short stories are an easy way to get to know different authors đŸ™‚
Iza,
That’s true and there’s always going to be something in them that you do enjoy reading.