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Classic Christmas Crime Stories
(Macmillan Collector’s Library £10.99, 320 pp)
Edited by David Stuart Davies
(Macmillan Collector’s Library £10.99, 320 pp)
A book to be praised as much for the presentation as for the contents, these classic crime stories come in an attractive pocket edition wrapped in a seasonal jacket.
The line-up of contributors reads like a Who’s Who of crime fiction. Leading the way is Arthur Conan Doyle with one of his intriguing, if fanciful, Baker Street ventures. Among other familiar names we have the ever reliable Peter Lovesey with an ingenious plot that gives a bad name to house sitting. But it is the lesser lights that shine brightest. A favourite is Robert Barnard, whose tale of theatrical jealousies and tender egos packs a mighty punch in the final paragraph.
For those inclined to invigorate the Christmas spirit with a touch of murder and mayhem, this is where to start.
Mrs Pargeter’s Patio
(Severn House £21.99, 192 pp)
by Simon Brett
(Severn House £21.99, 192 pp)
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The widow of a rich businessman who trod, most delicately, on both sides of the law, Mrs Pargeter is at pains to maintain the image of staid respectability created by her late husband.
So it comes as an unpleasant surprise when the patio of her palatial residence cracks open to reveal a human skull with a bullet hole in the centre of its forehead.
Resisting an impulse to summon the police, who are liable to ask awkward questions, Mrs Pargeter turns to her team of loyal reprobates to identify the victim and nail the murderer.
With his cast of miscreants bringing their assorted skills to protecting the Pargeter name, Brett leads us on a glorious romp into an underworld of artifice and dodgy dealings, and his sense of fun is infectious. We are rooting all the way for Mrs Pargeter, one of the most endearing characters of cosy crime.
The Murder Wheel
(Head of Zeus £20, 288 pp)
by Tom Mead
(Head of Zeus £20, 288 pp)
As an eager young lawyer, Edward Tibbs is set on proving the innocence of a client charged with shooting her husband. Since the killing took place in a ferris wheel cabin, high above ground, with the couple as the only occupants, it looks to be a hopeless cause.
But convinced that the power of illusion is at the root of a classic ‘closed room’ mystery, Edmund’s perseverance uncovers other seemingly impossible crimes while putting himself at risk of a murder charge. The only chance of clearing his name rests with a professional magician famed for his knowledge of how the tricks of his trade as performed on stage might be adapted to real life.
A brilliantly contrived plot, scattered with false trails, makes for a literary sleight of hand that is a delight to read.
Further brain teasers from Mead must surely be in the pipeline.
