Some of your favorite mystery writers are likely to be found in this collection of short stories. The villains may be the next door neighbor, or even someone living much closer, like a spouse. Horrors! And sometimes, turnabout is fair play. Whatever the season, these tales are perfect for a fast read in the evening, and may even elicit a chuckle when the evil person gets his or maybe even hers. ( )

Old-timey stories, mostly good with some a touch above; those by MacLeod, Crider and for Maron an introduction to Deb'rah. ( )

Warning: Biased opinion here. I don't like crime novels and I really don't like reading British-type novels that are supposed to be scary or suspenseful because they turn out to be neither for me. Way to much propriety and beating around the bush for me. This book was in my TBR pile as a gift & I thought I'd give it a whirl. I did not like it at all but I feel that others who enjoy detective/crime novels might. ( )

This is a collection of short stories by a variety of authors. Some of them are fairly good, but others are not so great. I have not read the author’s other collection of stories, so I cannot compare them. I also have not read other works by the authors, so I was very unfamiliar with their styles and any characters they may have included in other books or short stories. For me, the stories were okay, just not great. They lacked the suspense and excitement I have found in other similar short stories and novels. In addition, in a couple, the jargon used was very unfamiliar to me, so I had to continually stop and try to figure out what the author meant or look the term up. These cases, in particular, were very British, and I figured I just was not familiar enough to know British slang terms. However, this did not lend to my enjoyment of the story. I looked forward to this collection, as I love mysteries and enjoy themed stories, but, after reading the book, came away disappointed and unsatisfied. There were few times I was eager to read on to see what was going to happen, but, in some cases, I was more than ready to have the story end before it did (a first for me when reading this genre). I was not quite sure about the short author (I assume it was the author) introductions before each story, as I did not find that they added much to the tales. They were in italics, so at least I knew they were not part of the story and when they began and ended. Finally, I figure this is a good book to read if you are looking for something short that relates to the holiday, or if you are familiar with any of the authors or their other works. In addition, since each story is separate, you can pick up and put down the book easily, which helps during this busy season. I received this from NetGalley to read and review. ( )