Silent Nights

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Christmas is a mysterious, as well as magical, time of year Strange things can happen, and this helps to explain the hallowed tradition of telling ghost stories around the fireside as the year draws to a close Christmas tales of crime and detection have a similar appeal When television becomes tiresome, and party games pall, the prospect of curling up in the warm with a good mystery is enticing and much better for the digestion than yet another helping of plum pudding Crime writers are just as susceptible as readers to the countless attractions of Christmas Over the years, many distinguished practitioners of the genre have given one or of their stories a Yuletide setting The most memorable Christmas mysteries blend a lively storyline with an atmospheric evocation of the season Getting the mixture right is much harder than it looks.This book introduces readers to some of the finest Christmas detective stories of the past Martin Edwards selection blends festive pieces from much loved authors with one or two stories which are likely to be unfamiliar even to diehard mystery fans The result is a collection of crime fiction to savour, whatever the season. Read Silent Nights By Martin Edwards – kino-fada.fr 3.5 Like any collection of short stories, this one is a mixed bag Martin Edwards is, of course, an expert in the stories and authors selected here, but as with his other selections, and indeed any other selection, his tastes and favourites are somewhat different to mine.And, let s not forget that some authors are better at writing short stories than others The authors selected for this collection seem to represent some of the big names of mystery writing, but not necessarily the ones who were 3.5 Like any collection of short stories, this one is a mixed bag Martin Edwards is, of course, an expert in the stories and authors selected here, but as with his other selections, and indeed any other selection, his tastes and favourites are somewhat different to mine.And, let s not forget that some authors are better at writing short stories than others The authors selected for this collection seem to represent some of the big names of mystery writing, but not necessarily the ones who were good at shorts.The Blue Carbuncle Arthur Conan Doyle 5 One of my all time favourites.Parlour Tricks Ralph Plummer 3 Quick and fun but not difficult to solve.A Happy Solution Raymond Allen 2.5 Convoluted.The Flying Stars G.K Chesterton 3.5 Ah, Father Brown, you observer of human frailty Far superior to old biddy Marple but q...I ve enjoyed Martin Edwards Lake District Mystery series for a while now and I have also followed his blog where he discusses his enjoyment of classic mysteries Well I can see that he has put that enjoyment to very good use In these fifteen stories, chosen for their Christmas season setting, Edwards has created a collection of Golden Age mystery stories by authors both familiar and unknown They vary in setting from the country estate on Christmas to the city home during a winter storm or a r I ve enjoyed Martin Edwards Lake District Mystery series for a while now and I have also followed his blog where he discusses his enjoyment of classic mysteries Well I can see that he has put that enjoyment to very good use In these fifteen stories, chosen for their Christmas season setting, Edwards has created a collection of Golden Age mystery stories by authors both familiar and unknown They vary in setting from the country estate on Christmas to the city home during a winter storm or a railway journey at the holidays There are all sorts of detectives Some you may recognize More, you likely will not.I found this collection completely engaging, with no real misses Among my favorites Conan Doyle s Blue Carbuncle, Stuffing by Edgar Wallace, Sayers The Necklace of Pearls, The Case is Altered by Margery Allingham I have decided I must readof her ASAP , Waxworks by Ethel Lina White, and Cambric Tea by Marjorie Bowen I also like the one written under one of her pseudonyms I could ad...This review does not include the first Holmes story because it is muchfamous and better than the other stories in the book I am glad I finished this book although the book definitely had that Christmas atmosphere, the first half was bad and silly, the second half was ...This is a wonderful anthology of short, delightful, Golden Age Christmas stories, mostly mysteries, put out by the British Library Crime Classics There are stories by well known authors such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Dorothy Sayers and Edmund Crispen and then some lesser known, but quite talented, writers Each author has a little biography about them in front of their story which really adds something special I liked the stories and they have stood the test the test of time So as Christmas This is ...Invariably, an anthology of Golden Age mystery short stories is bound to be uneven however, Martin Edwards, an English solicitor and a mystery writer in his own right, has compiled a mostly delightful batch of Christmas themed British mysteries in Silent Night For the most part, the collection contains undeservedly forgotten authors as well as lesser known works by well known authors interspersed with The Blue Carbuncle by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Case Is Altered by Margery Allingham, a Invariably, an anthology of Golden Age mystery short stories is bound to be uneven however, Martin Edwards, an English solicitor and a mystery writer in his own right, has compiled a mostly delightful batch of Christmas themed British mysteries in Silent Night For the most part, the collection contains undeservedly forgotten authors as well as lesser known works by well known authors interspersed with The Blue Carbuncle by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Case Is Altered by Margery Allingham, and The Flying Stars by G.K Chesterton H.C Bailey s amateurish T...This is a wonderful collection of Golden Age detective stories all set around the festive Christmas season Martin Edward s Introduction whets the appetite for what s to come and each story is introduced with a useful couple of paragraphs which put the stories in context and give some basic information about each aut...This volume in the British Library Crime Classics series is really very, very good Fifteen 20 ish crimes at Christmas, by a range of top rate golden age writers authors who could write, as well as plot.From Conan Doyle, GK Chesterton, Edgar Wallace, Dorothy Sayers, Margery...To use a Christmas analogy, this book is like a half eaten tub of Quality Street there s a few green triangles and a couple of purple ones, but what you ve mostly got is the toffee pennies and strawberry cremes that nobody really likes, even when they ve had a few too many port and lemons Ethel Lena White s story was the standout for me, and of course Dorothy L Sayers and Margery Allingham were good, along with a few others but there was a lot of filler Always the risk with a book of short s To use a Christmas analogy, this book is like a half eaten tub of Quality Street there s...This a rare event for me5 for a collection of short stories There wasn t a bad one amongst them, and I do love to read Christmas stories over the Christmas holidays Lots of snow, lots of villainsand all in that fabulous Agatha Christie style Great.As most short story collections are, I felt this was uneven Four stories, especially Ethel Lina White s Waxworks, were terrific For those alone, this would be worth seeking out if you re a Golden Age mystery fan and want some reading specifically for the Christmas season I m glad I fin...

Silent Nights
  • English
  • 21 December 2018
  • Paperback
  • 256 pages
  • 071235610X
  • Martin Edwards
  • Silent Nights