The Mysterious Bookshop, which is an actual place in New York, and Otto Penzler the owner has commissioned an original short story as a holiday gift for customers, written exclusively for the store and never published elsewhere, but now we call have a chance to read some of the stories. This collection includes 12 unique short stories written by well know mystery writers between 2011-2023, all take place in New York City and include a cameo of the book shop. A standout story for me was the one with Catnip revenge—it peaked the strangeness level for me, and the story about the father who came back out of witness protection for his son’s book reading, was moving as well. This book contains something for everyone who likes a good mystery ranging in styles from cozy to police procedurals and portrays a different state on the festive season. The writing of all the stories are very good -- some will hold your attention more than others but it depends on the type of mystery you like .

Thank you to NetGalley, Otto Penzler, Penzler Publishers for this ARC . This is my honest review.

A collection of Christmas short stories all involving a mystery. What could be better?! Unfortunately for me this book just didn’t work. Most of the stories were a bit depressing and seemed to revolve around drinking. I think others might enjoy it

"The oldest mystery specialty bookstore in the world, The Mysterious Bookshop, has for most of its forty-five-year history commissioned an original short story as a holiday gift for its customers. Written exclusively for the store and never published elsewhere, the stories were given as a holiday gift to its customers as a thank you for their business, handed out or mailed between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day.

The prompt for the story requires three elements: that it be set at Christmastime, that it involve a crime of some kind, or the suspicion of one, and that it be set at least partially in the bookstore. And from these loose structural guidelines, diverse tales took flight. The dozen tales included in this volume are among the finest to be produced in this annual tradition, sure to charm any reader looking for a holiday-themed escape.

Included herein are the ingenious "Snowflake Time" by Laura Lippman; Lyndsay Faye's tale of vengeance "A Midnight Clear"; the challenging brainteaser, "A Christmas Puzzle," by Ragnar Jónasson; "Hester's Gift," an impossible crime story by Tom Mead; the suspenseful "The Christmas Party" by Jeffery Deaver; Thomas Perry's hilarious comedy of errors, "Here We Come A-Wassailing;" and other tales appropriate for the season, collected and introduced by Otto Penzler. The result is, objectively speaking, the finest "stocking stuffer" that a mystery fan could hope to find."

A wonderful tradition finally being shared far and wide!

The Mysterious Bookshop in New York is a must see for fans of mystery fiction. Shop owner Otto Penzler is one of the foremost experts on crime fiction. What a delight it is to have a new collection of short stories complied by Penzler just in time for Christmas.

Over the past three decades, Pens let has commissioned holiday-themed short stories to be compiled into a booklet to be given as a gift to customers. The only rules are that the story has to be set at Christmas and must feature The Mysterious Bookshop in some way.

Christmas Crimes At The Mysterious Bookshop features twelve of the best stories to have been featured in previous years. This is a terrific collection that gives the reader a chance to sample authors they may not have previously read. For me, the stories by Martin Edwards, Tom Mead, Laura Lippman, and Ragnar Jonasson were particular highlights.

If you like crime stories and particularly those set at Christmas, you should do yourself a favour and pick up this book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy of this book.

Such a fun read! Highly recommend.

Many thanks to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

I have a real weakness for Christmas crime, and this is a fantastic collection. I love how the authors weaved the one common element into their very different stories, and how different their perspectives were. Not every story had a happy holiday vibe, and that was fun too. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

Thank you for the ARC!

While the novel wasn't really my style with all the mini crime stories in one book, they were unique and very interesting in itself.

I would recommend this to friends and family who love this genre, but it wasn't for me.

This book is a fun collection of 12 short Christmas crime stories. They were written for the Mysterious Bookshop by 12 different well known mystery writers between 2011 and 2023. They take place in New York City which is the home of the Mysterious Bookshop. All the stories are in the Bookshop for part of the story. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, although there were a few that I liked the best. One is Ragnar Jonasson's A Christmas Puzzle in which an elderly woman goes to the bookstore and asks a young male clerk to help her solve a word puzzle, and he agrees to help her. The ending was a great surprise. The other is Sergeant Santa by David Gordan where Joe is buying books at the Mysterious Book Store, and his mother, a seasoned pick pocket goes out and steals the wallet of an obnoxious police man. Joe figures a great way to keep his mother from getting arrested.

I recommend this book as a Christmas present for a mystery lover. I thank Netgalley and Mysterious Press for giving me an ARC so I could read the book ahead of publication.

I received a free copy of, Christmas Crimes at The Mysterious Bookshop, by Otto Penzler, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book has twelve mysteries set in or around The Mysterious Bookshop. This book had so many great short stories I could not pick a favorite.

This is a wonderful collection of cozy mysteries with a holiday theme. I love how The Mysterious Bookshop is the oldest specialty bookstore in the world. The Owner Otto Penzler wanted to give something back to his customers, so he made this collection of an original short story as a holiday gift! Who doesn’t love bookshops and mysteries! 12 short stories which makes it easy to read a story before bed when you don’t have a lot of time! Snowflake time was my favorite. This book would be a great gift this holiday season!

Thank you, Net Galley, the author, and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited for this short story collection because I've enjoyed others edited by Otto Penzler before, but I was quickly turned off when the first short story started with a married character flirting with another married character. I had high hopes for this collection but that made it a big no for me.

As with any short story collection, I really liked some of these and then there were some that didn't do it for me, It's hard because every time I started a new story, I wasn't sure what to expect. Is this a dark violent story, or one that's more goofy?

Some of my favorites:

Sergaent Santa
Hester's Gift
Here We Come A-Wassailing (though its position after "The Christmas Party" definitely had me feeling like it was going to be a much darker story than it was)
A Christmas Puzzle (my personal favorite, because I have read most of the books mentioned in the crossword, with Simon Brett's Christmas mystery a particular joy)

Other thoughts:
I didn't really understand the title of Lippman's "Snowflake Time" although I appreciate the unlikeable narrator
"Secret Santa" wasn't really a mystery (to me at least).
"Wolfe Trap" felt like a story about characters that assumes people have met before but I didn't have previous knowledge of (one of them has a weird desire to be like Nero Wolfe)
"GIft of the Wiseguy" wasn't what I thought it would be and it made me sad

I appreciate how this compilation came to be and the next time I'm in NYC I definitely want to visit the Mysterious Bookstore!

An enjoyable compilation of Christmas whodunnit’s that have something for everyone. Cozy up with a blanket and your favorite beverage and enjoy it on a cool winter’s night.

I love anthologies and short stories, and especially Christmas or Halloween stories, mysteries or horrors. So Christmas mysteries? Perfection! Also, the cover is amazing!!

I received an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for a review and opinions are my own.

The Mysterious Bookshop is a wonderful place to visit in person. Luckily for those who can’t get there, Penzler publishes many titles. This time, he has collected seasonal stories that were first given to the store’s favored customers as a holiday gift. Now they can be read by bibliophiles everywhere.

Here are stories that follow three rules-they had to be seasonal, there needed to be a crime and, at least in part, must take place in a bookstore. From there, writers created their own engaging tales.

Some of the authors included in this volume are Lyndsay Faye, Ace Atkins, Laura Lippman, Ragnar Jonasson and Tom Mead. There are sure to be finds here for readers with varied tastes.

This book would make a perfect stocking stuffer. Penzler had indeed offered a gift to readers.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Penzler Publishers-Mysterious Press for this title. All opinions are my own.

I was excited about this book .
I love Christmas mysteries .
This book wasn’t for me , sadly .
I had a hard time following the plot .
The characters were one dimensional and the mystery was predictable .,

Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop has it all. It has festive crime stories set in a bookshop. I loved it!

Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop is a collection of short stories written by various authors. Each story is a crime, mystery, or thriller and set during Christmas involving the Mysterious Bookshop in NYC.

I really enjoyed reading the mysteries set around Christmas. They are “cozy mysteries” and would be a great holiday gift for a book lover. One story in the book was very difficult to understand/ follow, but that may have been a proofing or editing issue that will be corrected before publication.

I look forward to purchasing this book for friends in my book club, and plan on visiting the shop next time I’m in NYC!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Twelve excellent stories that all include The Mysterious Bookshop. Not related to these stories, but it is my favorite bookstore.
I loved how each author incorporated the bookshop into each story in someway. Bonus points from me when Otto Penzler was also featured.
I’m not going to summarize each story since I feel like I might give too much away. I told myself when I started reading this that I would pick my absolute favorite. It was close and a tough call, but Laura Lippman’s Snowflake Time took the number one spot for me. I loved the plot and how the author made me shake my head while I was cringing but made me chuckle too.
All twelve stories were inventive and entertaining, and I enjoyed everyone. I might just do a reread during the 12 days of Christmas.

This was an interesting book. I like anthologies and like the case with them - some stories are better than others. This may be a great gift for the mystery aunt in your life who loves cozy mysteries. The stories are short and charming. Anne Perry's story was my favourite.