Christmas Detective Fiction

It's almost Christmas, and Gwinny Tuffel's thoughts are on what she'll buy for DI Birch and whether she can adopt another furry friend. But sorting through her late father's papers leads her into his mysterious past, pointing to an enigmatic liaison with someone now living in a Somerset commune. Gwinny and DI Birch find themselves unexpectedly snowed in with a group of retired spies, along with an energetic Cocker Spaniel, and embroiled in a murder case. Will they uncover the culprit and escape in time for Christmas?

When Laurel Claus trades the North Pole for the charming village of Snowberry Cove, she’s dreaming of cinnamon-scented mornings and a peaceful new life running her bakery, The Jolly Gingerbread. But when the town’s beloved Santa is found dead behind her shop, Laurel - and her anxious gingerbread sidekick, Crumb - land at the top of the suspect list. With Christmas magic fading, a trail of enchanted clues, and a grumpy-but-handsome police chief who isn’t sure whether to arrest her or protect her, Laurel must solve the case before the killer ruins Christmas for everyone. Perfect for ...

'Tis the season for mince pies, mulled wine... and murder! A dead body. A locked Christmas stall with no way in or out. A cunning killer who's gone before the tea's gone cold. Christmas in Southbourne should be all twinkly lights and festive cheer, but Fiona, Daisy, and Partial Sue—the retired trio who run Dogs Need Nice Homes charity shop— have little to celebrate. What with the elusive "Southbourne Stalker" prowling the streets of their sleepy seaside town, they're in need of a little seasonal magic.

Christmas at a snowed in country house. You know what happens next… Not necessarily. Agatha Aston is invited to spend the weekend before Christmas with some old friends. Accompanied by her Machiavellian Basset hound, Talleyrand, Agatha encounters murder, ghosts and romance at a country house where nothing is as it seems. While Agatha has her hands full solving a murder, Talleyrand has his own problems in the shape of Bismarck, the hosts’ unfriendly German Shepherd. Expect fireworks. Containing a short ghost story within a story, The Christmas Murder Mystery is a twisty box of delights, ...

A heart-warming Victorian Christmas mystery with a touch of peril, this story is performed by award-winning narrators Simon Prebble and Wendy Tremont King. When Sir Henry Baskerville, now happily married, invites Sherlock Holmes to Baskerville Hall, that infamous baronial mansion in darkest Devonshire, the entire Baker Street team accepts his invitation for a family holiday. But Sir Henry has an ulterior motive and the powers of evil are at work.

Christmas in Stoke-on-Trent turns deadly as heavy snow falls. A killer targets three victims, linked by forty-year-old sins: a poisoned pensioner with a hidden past; a charity worker, hung by Christmas lights; and a carer with a dark secret, tortured to death. Private Detective Tom Blake and criminologist Martha Lennox hunt a killer who’s a literary executioner. The meticulously staged crimes blend Classic Agatha Christie mystery with the moral fury of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Sinister warning notes at each scene declare: “I am the Jacob Marley of Death, and there will be more ...

In this short story, Hercule Poirot is asked to attend a Christmas celebration in order to apprehend a jewel thief who has taken advantage of an unwary Eastern prince.

Six down-on-their-luck people with links to the world of crime writing have been invited to play a game this Christmas by the mysterious Midwinter Trust. The challenge seems simple but exciting: Solve the murder of a fictional crime writer in a remote but wonderfully atmospheric village in north...

Colorful Christmas lights dapple the family homes in the idyllic lakeside town of Sweet Haven when Jennifer Dean, a young librarian at the local elementary school, is brutally murdered. There are witnesses and her boyfriend Travis Blake confesses to the crime...but something doesn't quite add up. Blake is a third generation Army Ranger, awarded the Silver Star for his heroism in Afghanistan - how could a beloved son of this tight-knit burgh commit such a grisly deed?

A broken hero. A betrayed artist. A fifty-year-old secret that could burn everything to the ground. Noelle Parker has lost everything. After her ex-partner stole her business and her designs, she flees to the only place she can afford: a wind-swept island in the middle of nowhere. But her "fresh start" turns out to be a crumbling ruin of a workshop, and her new landlord is the most powerful man on the island—a tyrant determined to intimidate her into leaving before she even unpacks. Deputy Finn is known around town as "The Jinx." Ever since he accidentally set the Christmas Market on fire...

Christmas in Birmingham means the Frankfurt Christmas Market. Loved and hated by brummies in equal measure, it certainly makes life interesting for West Midlands Police. But when the body of a homeless man is found behind a market stall early one Sunday morning, it looks like Christmas might be cancelled for DI Zoe Finch and her team. And when they discover that the victim has a history that makes his death politically sensitive, things get even more complicated.

Sherlock and Lucy must defeat two ruthless organizations on two continents in this season two finale of the Sherlock and Lucy series. Their clever archenemy, the evil Lord Sonneborne, will fight them to the bitter end. But the Baker Street team is equally determined. Their own lives, and the life of Lucy's mother, are at stake, in a struggle to change the future of the British Empire.

A shimmering market, a ruthless killer, and a holiday trip that turns Vienna into a maze of danger. Darcy Finnegan expected gingerbread and handcrafted toys at the famous Christkindlmarkt—not a murder. But when a powerful toy magnate is found crushed beneath the golden gears of a newly unveiled carousel, the festive glow turns ominous. With panic spreading and a beloved toymaker blamed, Darcy can’t walk away. Teaming up with her bestie, Lizzie, her clever Schnoodle Mozart, and Interpol Agent Marcus Evans, she follows a trail of cinnamon and sawdust threaded through a glowing market. A ...

In the small town of Dewstow, 'tis the season for gold, frankincense, and murder... It’s Margery’s first year as kitchen manager for Summerview school and supported by her wife, Clementine, she is trying to stay focused. When a tragic accident claims the life of the music teacher during rehearsals for the Christmas concert planning, they are caught in the crossfire. Mrs Smith, the Head of Drama, becomes the prime suspect, and is desperate for the Dinner Lady Detectives to clear her name.

December 1860. Headed for the morning shift at the Swindon Locomotive Works is an army of men pouring out of terraced houses built by the GWR, a miniature town and planned community that aims to provide for its employees from cradle to grave. Unfortunately, boilersmith Frank Rodman is headed for the grave sooner than he'd expected, or he will be once his missing head is found. Colbeck, the Railway Detective, finds his investigation into Rodman's murder mired in contradictions.

🐾 A PURR-FECTLY TWISTED COZY MYSTERY FOR CAT LOVERS & SLEUTHING FANS ALIKE! "The Detective Cat of Willow Creek" is a page-turning blend of heartwarming humor, quirky small-town secrets, and one unforgettable feline sleuth. When beloved show dog Maximus vanishes days before the Holiday Dog Show, Lily Green, a gentle pet groomer, and her massive, grouchy genius cat, Goliath, are pulled into a high-stakes whodunit that will shake Willow Creek to its festive core. In a town where gossip travels faster than a greyhound, suspects pile up faster than shedding fur. Was it rival groomer Sylvia ...

It is 1890, and in the days before Christmas, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson are visited at Baker Street by a new client. Eve Allerthorpe, eldest daughter of a grand but somewhat eccentric Yorkshire-based dynasty, is greatly distressed, as she believes she is being haunted by a demonic Christmas spirit. Her late mother told her terrifying tales of the sinister Black Thurrick, and Eve is sure that she has seen the creature from her bedroom window. What is more, she has begun to receive mysterious parcels of birch twigs, the Black Thurrick’s calling card.

Edgar Award-winning editor Otto Penzler collects more than 50 of his all-time favorite holiday crime stories - many of which are difficult or nearly impossible to find anywhere else. From classic Victorian tales by Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Thomas Hardy, to contemporary stories by Sara Paretsky and Ed McBain, this collection touches on all aspects of the holiday season, and all types of mysteries. They are suspenseful, funny, frightening, and poignant.

Mordecai Tremaine, former tobacconist and perennial lover of romance novels, has been invited to spend Christmas in the sleepy village of Sherbroome at the country retreat of one Benedict Grame. Arriving on Christmas Eve, he finds that the revelries are in full flow - but so too are tensions amongst the assortment of guests. Midnight strikes and the party-goers discover that it's not just presents nestling under the tree...there's a dead body, too. A dead body that bears a striking resemblance to Father Christmas.

A Harriet Sloane Christmas story set in Belfast, 2005. Enjoy an insight into Harry's life before she was a DI in Strandtown with this festive story. WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE DI SLOANE SERIES: ‘So clever.’ ‘The author is skilled at creating character and place.’ ‘A finely written and twisty detective thriller.’ ‘Timely.’ ‘An expertly plotted, contextually relevant story.’ ‘This series goes from strength to strength.’ ‘Unputdownable.’ ‘Her characters are alive, her settings are accurate, her story moves with grip and force.’ ‘I was drawn in hook, ...