Title:

Crimson Snow: Winter Mysteries

Author:

Martin Edwards (editor)

Release Date:

November 10, 2016

Format:

Trade Paperback

Genre:

Mystery

Sub-Genre:

Christmas, Short Stories

Rating:

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Read-A-Likes:

Summary: Crimson Snow brings together a dozen vintage crime stories set in winter. Welcome to a world of Father Christmases behaving oddly, a famous fictional detective in a Yuletide drama, mysterious tracks in the snow, and some very unpleasant carol singers. There’s no denying that the supposed season of goodwill is a time of year that lends itself to detective fiction. On a cold night, it’s tempting to curl up by the fireside with a good mystery. And more than that, claustrophobic house parties, with people cooped up with long-estranged relatives, can provide plenty of motives for murder. Including forgotten stories by major writers such as Margery Allingham, as well as classic tales by less familiar crime novelists, each story in this selection is introduced by the leading expert on classic crime, Martin Edwards. The resulting volume is an entertaining and atmospheric compendium of wintry delights.-From Goodreads

What I Liked: I liked how each story begins with a short biography of the author and some facts about the story and its history. I also enjoyed how varied the stories were, in both length and mood. Some had a more fanciful feel to them while others were deceptively dark. Some I liked more than others, in particular The Chopman Affair, The Man with the Sack, Mr. Cork’s Secret, and The Carol Singers (my personal favorite of this collection). Most of the stories in this book were written by authors I had either heard of but never read or authors I had never even heard of so it was fun to discover new authors to read. 

What I Didn’t Like: Some of the stories feature detectives that are featured in the author’s novels and while you don’t need a ton of background on these characters, I could tell that if I knew more about them, the stories would have been more enjoyable. 

Who Should Read It: Fans of classic mysteries will enjoy this foray into vintage mystery stories. Anyone who reads modern mysteries may also like this collection highlighting classic authors.

Review Wrap Up: Overall, I really liked this collection of stories.  I was unfamiliar with a lot of these authors and I enjoyed discovering the different writing styles used. There are a few authors that I will definitely be reading more from and I highly recommend this book if you’re looking for something different.