I found a list last year, created by Otto Penzler of the Mysterious Book Shop in Manhattan, of the 10 Best Christmas mysteries. And so for 2012’s Christmas, I started acquiring them.
This first one I’ve read is Rest You Merry by Charlotte MacLeod. She’s a writer I used to know and love – don’t read mysteries much anymore, except at Christmas time. It’s set on an eastern college campus, stars a not very absent minded professor, has a million characters, a very good love story, and lots of suspects. It was written in the 70s, so there is a bit of nostalgia in the sense of no high tech, no cell phones and so no cameras always ready to provide evidence. That was fun in and of itself.
So I definitely want to continue on with Otto’s list. This one was absolutely a winner.