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bgg616's review against another edition
5.0
This collection of short mysteries all set at Christmas was organized by Martin Edwards. Each story is preceded by a short biography of the author. There are locked room mysteries, murders, and thefts. Most stories have surprise endings and enough clues to figure out what's coming. The narration was outstanding and really made listening a great holiday treat.
iceangel9's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
A collection of classic mystery short stories by relatively unknown authors. These authors and these stories should be much better known than they are. Most of them are extremely clever and all are enjoyable to read.
aet_rebecca's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
backpackfullofbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
traceymlee's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
gillianc695a's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.5
shelfofunread's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
softrosemint's review against another edition
3.75
this is my first foray into the british library crime classics series and i can comfortably say i enjoyed it. it may be a bit strange to pick up a christmas collection in october but i wanted to get a taste of the series before getting some of the other christmas collections for my christmas holiday reading.
the collection grabbed me from the first page where, in the introduction, martin edwards argues the case for the short story as a literary form. i wish i could express the joy and comfort i received from seeing my own thoughts - matters that i have literally discussed with my friends, passionately - mirrored on the page by an author of his experience and caliber and at a british library publication.
i feel like his introduction to this collection could serve as a mission statement of a lot of the work the british library have been doing with series like crime classics, tales of the weird and many others of the collections they regularly put out. i think it is important to pay attention.
moving onto the meat of the book, the collection is pleasantly varied. there are stories that lean more towards the supernatural, others that lean more towards mystery, as well as some very grounded in plausibility. there truly is something for every crime fiction lover.
my personal favourites were "the christmas card crime" by donald stuart, "blind man's hood" by carter dickson, "sister bessie or your old leech" by cyril hare and "a bit of wire-pulling" by e.c.r. lorac
the collection grabbed me from the first page where, in the introduction, martin edwards argues the case for the short story as a literary form. i wish i could express the joy and comfort i received from seeing my own thoughts - matters that i have literally discussed with my friends, passionately - mirrored on the page by an author of his experience and caliber and at a british library publication.
i feel like his introduction to this collection could serve as a mission statement of a lot of the work the british library have been doing with series like crime classics, tales of the weird and many others of the collections they regularly put out. i think it is important to pay attention.
moving onto the meat of the book, the collection is pleasantly varied. there are stories that lean more towards the supernatural, others that lean more towards mystery, as well as some very grounded in plausibility. there truly is something for every crime fiction lover.
my personal favourites were "the christmas card crime" by donald stuart, "blind man's hood" by carter dickson, "sister bessie or your old leech" by cyril hare and "a bit of wire-pulling" by e.c.r. lorac
verityw's review against another edition
3.0
The Christmas Card Crime is another of those charming British Library Crime Classics collections that I mentioned in my Christmas books post last week. So yes, it’s also slightly cheating to be picking this for BotW so soon after that post – although in fairness I did read the other one in November so it seems less recent to me! This has less of the names that the casual crime fan will have heard of and but many of them are regulars in the BLCC stable – like E C R Lorac and John Bude – and some of them are more towards the thriller/chiller end of the mystery spectrum. Most are good, a couple didn’t suit me but overall it was a nice way to spend a post-Christmas afternoon hiding from the rain. It should be noted that there is one story in here that overlaps with A Surprise for Christmas – and it’s one of the really good ones, so I was glad I had borrowed them both from Kindle Unlimited rather than bought them outright.