Customer Reviews

Christmas Stalkings

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Christmas Stalkings is a mystery short-story anthology. Some of the stories were better than others, but thank goodness, they were all readable mystery stories--not those weird navel-gazing symbolic ones you can only really get into if you're a drunk, high, sleep-deprived college student (er... not that I'd know anything about that).

I bought the book for the Evelyn E. Smith story about Mrs. Melville. Her middle-aged female assassin was such fun. I'd so woed that she only wrote 4 books and the short story in this anthology about her.

This is a really great collection of stories that will have you laughing and turning pages. Great authors and reallly clever plots

Most of the mysteries in the book were okay, but overall, I thought that they were a bit too dark for Christmas. I suppose it's a matter of taste, but I didn't care for the stories in the collection that were from the point of view of the attempted killers/criminals. A couple of the stories had depressing endings as well. Here is a list of the stories included in the collection:

Counterfeit Christmas by Charlotte MacLeod - The Balaclava Agricultural College is giving its Grand Illumination for Christmas when counterfeit bills start showing up at the vendors' booths. They're surprisingly good fakes, except for the obvious fact that the picture of the U.S. President has been replaced with one of the president of the college. Is it a prank? A slur on the college? Or something else?

The Running of the Deer by Reginald Hill - A private detective has been asked to investigate a case of poaching at a country house only to uncover a completely different crime.

Liz Peters, PI by Elizabeth Peters - An author/PI investigates the presence of a dead man in her own house.

Angels by Medora Sale - A teacher is killed while playing an angel at a school Christmas pageant, but how did the murderer accomplish it in front of so many people?

The Only True Unraveller by John Malcolm - A man who recently lost his wife visits a friend and his wife for Christmas. His friend, a biographical researcher, takes him to see the grave of a well-known singer for sinister reasons.

The January Sale Stowaway by Dorothy Cannell - A woman, determined to get the only teapot left in the store that resembles the one that used to belong to her parents, hides out in the store after it closes so that she can be first in line and discovers the secret of a theft.

The Santa Claus Caper by Bill Crider - A police chief convinces a college professor to play Santa at a local department store to uncover a shoplifter.

Family Christmas by Patricia Moyes - Robert Runfold was tight-fisted and unsympathetic to his children's money problems. When he died after a family Christmas celebration, everyone thought it was due to his weak heart, but his wife had reason to believe otherwise.

Miss Melville Rejoices by Evelyn Smith - Miss Melville, an unlikely assassin, gives a Christmas party for someone she's planning to assassinate, only to find someone else has done it for her.

Two in the Bush by Eric Wright - A gang of ex-cons impersonate a Salvation Army band with the idea of collecting donations for themselves only to receive an ironic surprise.

The Fabulous Nick by Mickey Friedman - A man who might be Santa Claus proves that a boy's father did not steal a neighbor's jewels.

A Political Necessity by Robert Barnard - A politician plots to kill his wife at Christmas

Fruitcake, Mercy, and Black-Eyed Peas by Margaret Maron - A lawyer helps a woman who has been stealing baby items. But, why does she do it when she doesn't have a baby?