The Book Report #53
Episode #52
Who Killed Father Christmas? And Other Seasonal Mysteries
Edited By Martin Edwards
The Book
This book is a collection of short stories by various authors, traversing about 61 years. The book was first published in October of 2023 by the British Library. This is, I believe, the fourth or fifth book in a series of short stories set around Christmas, with the genre of crime and mystery.
The book has 272 pages with an introduction from Mr Edwards, and the British Library, then one for each author before their story and finally advertisements for other books in the series and other collections.
The Authors:
In order of the stories in the book.
Garnett Radcliffe 1898 – 1971 On the Irish Mail – 1931
Frank Howell Evans 1867 – 1931 The Christmas Thief – 1911
Anthony Gilbert 1899 – 1973 The Christmas Spirit – 1952
Vincent Cornier 1898 – 1976 Among Those Present was Santa Claus – 1952
Catherine Aird 1930 Gold, Frankincense and Murder – 1995
J. Jefferson Farjeon 1883 – 1955 Secrets in the Snow – 1942
Patricia Moyes 1923 – 2000 Who Killed Father Christmas – 1980
Glyn Daniel 1914 – 1986 Death at Christmas – 1959
John Dickson Carr 1906 – 1977 Scotland Yard’s Christmas – 1957
Michael Gilbert 1912 – 2006 The Bird of Dawning – 1956
Gerald Verner 1897 – 1980 The Grey Monk – 1934
Will Scott 1893 – 1964 The Christmas Train – 1933
Michael Innes 1906 – 1994 Who suspects the Postman? – 1958
Peter Todd 1976 – 1961 Herlock Sholmes’ Christmas Case – 1916
Ellis Peters 1913 – 1995 A Present for Two – 1958 – 59
I could not find photos of everyone, as far as I know, they don’t exist. Also, I know that some of the names above are not their original names. Some of them are pen names. Some are not so obvious. And some, well…
What Did I Think
One of the main things I like about this book is that some of the authors featured; are generally lesser known to the public than the mainstream authors. Some write the odd story whilst working on other things in their life.
I was a little surprised that I knew a couple of them myself. I knew their work more than the author.
Thanks to the British Library for bringing this together, and working with authors to bring to light those maybe lost writings.
The variety of stories and style is quite good. There is even a true ghost story wrapped in murder/ missing person drama. And even though the crimes and mystery were the main goals of the stories they brought the essence of Christmas with them making the characters feel more real and relatable whether they were being good or bad.
The authors, for the most part, understand how humans react and how they should react to the dealings of life, during each of the story’s periods. The first story of the book could have been set today. People can still be that gullible. And although they are there the authorities don’t take up most of the story and are there when needed. The people work out mostly what is going on.
Which, I did feel, improved some of the mysteries.
Would I Recommend
Yes, I would. This is one of those rare treats that I find once in a while. And I wanted something to read that had a laced-over Christmas theme. Fair enough not all were great but It was still enjoyable to work out some of the mysteries and find out who did it.
Please, give this book a go!
Would you like to purchase your very own copy?
You could try these online stores: The British Library, Waterstones. Barnes and Noble and eBay UK/ USA.
Alternatively, you could try your local bookshop or even your local library.
