Christmas Mystery Short

A hit woman’s work doesn’t stop for the holidays. As the advent calendar winds down, Paige slips into a palatial house, ignoring a blizzard of texts from her ex-husband. No surprise—Julian always gets maudlin this time of year. The real shock comes when the target is not alone. His young daughter is there too.

‘WHAT WAS THAT?!?! I didn't plan on staying up til 2am to finish this! It had me gripped from the start. I loved the characters and it kept me guessing until the very last pages! So good!!!’ Goodreads, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ It’s Christmas Day and my family are opening presents around the tree. Lights twinkle, festive music is playing and everything looks perfect. But when I open an unexpected gift and discover what’s inside, I’m left reeling. I feel like I can’t breathe… The truth I’ve just unwrapped has the power to destroy everything. Looking around at the smiling faces of my ...

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.

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.

Fashion designer turned amateur sleuth Maddie Springer can't wait to spend the holidays with her boyfriend, LAPD Detective Jack Ramirez. It's their first Christmas together, and Maddie wants it to be perfect. But between her zany family and wacky friends, Maddie's having a hard time finding alone time with her man. But come Christmas morning, this is one holiday she'll be sure to remember - naughty or nice!

Christmas has served as a fertile background for mystery fiction for a very long time, perhaps because it has the appearance of a time of peace and love while being so deeply at odds with violence, crime, and even murder. Many of the stories in this anthology have been written by some of the greatest Golden Age authors, undoubtedly inspired by the juxtaposition of the disparate elements of love and hate.

The Mystery of Christmas is a collection of inspirational historical, contemporary, and speculative Christmas short stories.

Hank and Josie own a small nursery in Mays Landing, New Jersey. They have three kids and a house with a mortgage. Josie has worked hard making and selling wreaths to make money for Christmas presents. Two days before Christmas, while she is collecting pine cones for her wreaths, she finds a woman named Helen lying in the woods behind her house. She is bruised and beaten, but won't let Josie call for help.

Stocking stuffers like handknit scarves make the coziest of Christmas gifts—unless they're used as accessories for murder! When grinchy thefts steal the good cheer at a local nursing home, Siobhan O'Sullivan manages to identify one missing item before the tractor parade—a hideous shamrock scarf wrapped around a very dead body. The festivities go cold at Pans 'N' Pancakes the instant a diner dies while knitting a brilliant green scarf. Suspects pile up when frosty-tempered Carys Walnutt is found strangled by a handmade scarf auctioned at Arborville's tree-lighting ceremony.

Dive into the complete Nosy Neighbor Mystery Series, where bestselling author Cynthia Hickey delivers laugh-out-loud humor, heart-pounding suspense, and unforgettable small-town whodunits. Follow Stormi Nelson, a bestselling romance writer turned amateur sleuth, as she juggles quirky neighbors, unexpected romance, and murder cases that strike a little too close to home. From discovering dead bodies in vats of chocolate to surviving skincare parties gone wrong, unmasking obsessed stalkers, and navigating family vacations turned deadly, Stormi’s life in Oak Meadows Estates, Arkansas, is ...

A remote Tuscan village, a Venetian Christmas, and a devilish surprise in the Alps… In this seasonal trio of travel mysteries, retired teachers Etta and Dora — with their loyal (and mildly melodramatic) hound Napoleon — uncover secrets amid Italy’s most atmospheric winter destinations. ◆ A Tuscan Threat sees our heroes spending a chilly Halloween in a remote area of Tuscany, where they reveal a truth far more terrible than any groaning ghoul or wailing witch that ever haunted the dark autumnal night. Will they solve the puzzle in time to save a family from tragedy? ◆ In the ...

A Festive Frolic of Frosty Streets and Fearless Feats! London, 1899: The snowy streets of Victorian London shimmer with holiday cheer, but for Flynn, the spirited Baker Street Irregular, it’s shaping up to be a Christmas calamity. Evicted from his rented room by a greedy landlord, Flynn and his mates are back on the icy cobblestones. Then Sherlock Holmes assigns Flynn a crucial mission: shadow a suspicious stranger. It’s Flynn’s chance to prove himself—but he loses his target in the bustling Christmas shopping crowd, right under Becky’s watchful eye. Determined to redeem himself, ...

Five characters from the Clearwater, Larkspur and Delamere Mysteries find themselves taking the train to Cornwall for the 1892 Larkspur Hall Christmas Eve ball. To pass the time, they each tell a story from their past. Sitting in their carriage is a stranger who listens to their stories of detection, mystery and prophesy, and recognises some of the people involved. As they near their destination, the stranger realises he is more involved with his fellow passengers than they know, but who is he? Where is he going, and why? 1892 can be read as a short, standalone novella, and there’s no ...

A COSY MURDER MYSTERYONE ROTTEN APPLE SPOILS THE WHOLE BARREL. It's winter in Hertfordshire and the heavy snow falls over the hills. Detective Harris is called out to a body laying in the snow. It was supposed to be a simple case, but with the ever disappearing evidence, can Harris find the victim's killer, because this one is evading the police and will bring Harris face to face with a perpetrator unlike anything she has seen before. A very merry murder is an evocative and atmospheric tale. The perfect novelette to curl up with over a cold, winter's day.

Torrential rains and murder hit the small town of River Grove...on Christmas Eve An early winter storm moves in over River Grove, as the town gathers to celebrate a delicious Christmas Eve feast at The Riverside Saloon. When Gracie's boyfriend Nate pulls a body from the river that night, she tries to figure out who killed the old hermit—and why. Gracie fights icy rain, a power outage, and flooding to talk to anyone who knew the man—including a suspect from a previous case, who might hold the key to solving the mystery. Includes three ginger-y recipes from The Laughing Loaf Bakery!

It's all candy cane cupcakes and peppermint coffee until you find a dead elf on your doorstep. Only the elf wasn't a real elf, because elves don't actually exist - not even at Christmas time. A college student dressed like an elf decided taking a nap in sub-zero winter temps was a good idea. It wasn't. Anna, the pink-haired baker extraordinaire of Callie's Cakes, is convinced the student's death was not an accident. She drags Callie and Kristie along with her as she attempts to discover who killed the elf ... um... student. Will the gals of Callie's Cakes find the killer before Christmas is...

Silent Night turns deadly when a killer joins the chorus… When the Golden Ring Carolers arrive at Lena Larsen's Victorian guest house for their holiday retreat, she expects a peaceful week of seasonal songs and festive preparation. Instead, she gets a murder mystery wrapped in red velvet ribbon. The victim? Clara Whitmore, the group's controlling founder and lead soprano, whose talent for discovering secrets was matched only by her skill in wielding them against others. With a growing list of suspects—including a bitter ex-fiancé, an ambitious understudy, and a cousin trapped in ...

In this gripping tale of revenge and redemption, two strangers find their lives intertwined by a decades-old tragedy. Set against the backdrop of the cutthroat corporate world and the weight of generational curses, this story explores the depths of human nature, the price of vengeance, and the possibility of healing. With twists that will keep readers on the edge of their seats, this novella delves into themes of family, fate, and the lengths we go to protect those we love. It's a haunting exploration of how the past shapes our present and the power we have to change our future.

A Little Paris Christmas Murder —🎄🗼🐱 a festive cozy mystery set in Paris where food, wine, and books warm even the coldest nights… along with Mercury, the cat. Christmas in Paris… what could possibly go wrong? Ava Sext, an amateur sleuth and transplanted Londoner who sells books from a stand overlooking the Seine, is determined to make this her best holiday season ever. But when a fellow bookseller is pushed into the Seine at the bustling Christmas Fair, leaving him fighting for his life, Ava and her friend Henri DeAth must unravel the mystery before the holiday cheer turns ...

Discover clean and fun best-selling cozy mysteries by Amber Crewes to enjoy! A light cozy-mystery series with an amateur female sleuth, mouth-watering culinary desserts, and 13 gripping murder mysteries!