When I was asked to make a list of beloved Christmas Mysteries there were certain authors that immediately came to mind. My list is made up of mysteries written in England in the nineteenth and twentieth century. I have a particular fondness for that time period and the skill involved. Included are some from the Golden Age of Mystery as well as some well-known authors that deserve a second consideration. I must admit there are many “locked room” mysteries. I feel that is in keeping with the season. I think we all get a little claustrophobic with all the parties and family around us all during the holidays. Several of these mysteries are spooky and involve ghosts. No, A Christmas Carol is not included here, but it is a great example. As a child I read a lot of ghost stories and other spooky books. Many people think of Halloween for ghosts, but the thought of a crackling fire and long shadows and hot cocoa invokes thoughts of ghost stories. Ghost stories at Christmas have a long history. In the Victorian period, ghost stories reached their peak in popular reading. These stories were told at the end of the year and often included folklore and traditions. According to Sara Cleto, a folklorist specializing in British literature, the season around the winter solstice has been one of transition and change. “For a very, very, very long time, [the season] has provoked oral stories about spooky things in many different countries and cultures all over the world,” she says. “The long midwinter nights meant folks had to stop working early, and they spent their leisure hours huddled close to the fire,” says Tara Moore, an assistant professor of English at Elizabethtown College, “Plus, you didn’t need to be literate to retell the local ghost story.”
This list is in chronological order, and I have tried to balance my favorites with those that fit the category. I hope you will seek them out as the holiday season approaches.
Charles Dickens, Hunted Down (1859): This is not A Christmas Carol. This gothic mystery is about a man who discovers an evil life insurance agent who has found a way to succeed. The mystery has dark and spooky themes and is a great winter read.
Wilkie Collins, The Haunted Hotel (1878): This is a gothic mystery set in a rundown Venetian palazzo. Collins was a forebearer of the sensationalist mystery genre and his stories were popular holiday reading. There are ghosts and dark secrets in this spooky mystery.
Arthur Conan Doyle, Beeton’s Christmas Annual (1887): The annual’s 1887 issue is particularly special for featuring the first-ever appearance of Sherlock Holmes in A Study in Scarlet.
Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle (1892): The only Sherlock Holmes Mystery set during the holiday season, beginning on December 27. Geese, robbers, and Christmas—what a combination.
Dorothy L. Sayers, The Necklace of Pearls (1933): A Lord Peter Whimsey short story, part of a collection Hangman’s Holiday. This one involves a theft of a jewel at a Christmas Party.
Dorothy L. Sayers, The Nine Tailors (1934): Lord Peter Whimsey at his best, set over Christmas and New Year’s. A snow-bound village creates a locked room murder where the body is found buried with a nine-bell peal.
John Dickson Carr (writing as Carter Dickson), The White Priory Murders (1934): A spellbinding locked room mystery in a snowbound pavilion, involving the death of a glamorous Hollywood actress.
Mavis Doriel Hay, The Santa Klaus Murder (1936): The guests find the patriarch of a strange family is murdered dressed as Santa Claus.
J. Jefferson Farjeon, Mystery in White (1937): Stranded travelers take refuge in an out-of-the-way house on Christmas Eve, where they find a strange and unsettling puzzle.
Agatha Christie, Hercule Poirot’s Christmas (1938): A must-read Christmas Mystery. Hercule Poirot, a tyrannical patriarch, and a locked room mystery.
Francis Duncan, Murder for Christmas (1949): An amateur detective named Mordecai Tremaine is at a country house for a festive party and gets pulled into a shocking murder.
Cyril Hare, An English Murder (1951): During the holidays a group of guests is snowbound in an English country estate with a murderer.
Agatha Christie, The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (1960): This collection of short stories includes one with Poirot. A holiday treat with a jewel.
Christmas is a time of traditions. I hope everyone will create their own list and have an enjoyable time reading.
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