EXCERPT: (From A Deadly Gift by Angela Clarke)
Miriam Pye wasn't particularly keen on her cousin Edward, but she still didn't wish to find him lying dead under the Christmas tree. He was sprawled out, a shiny gold bauble hanging above his head in a macabre approximation of a halo. Several wrapped presents, which had been ostentatiously piled up for this morning's festivities, had been kicked and strewn. One gift, intended for a younger member of the family, squirted bright Play-Doh from its split Rudolph paper. The large spruce Edward had ordered be cut from the estate had been knocked to a concerning angle. It was obvious, even to the untrained eye of Miriam; there'd been a struggle. A string of decorative pearls from the tree had been looped around Edward's neck, over his clip-on velvet bow-tie, and presumably his airway. She doubted even Edward - a veteran mansplainer who claimed to be an expert at whatever task he encountered - could strangle himself from behind.

ABOUT 'DEATH COMES AT CHRISTMAS': The award-winning Marie O’Regan and Paul Kane invite you to a festive gathering of bestselling, critically acclaimed and award-winning writers in tribute to classic, British period crime stories. From locked room mysteries on Christmas eve to devilish whodunits and tales of simmering rivalries unfolding at the dinner table, these thirteen original seasonal tales will delight and shock at every twist and turn. So, unwrap the presents, pour a mug of mulled wine and follow the bloodstained footprints through the freshly fallen snow as winter descends and darkness lurks in the shadows.

MY THOUGHTS: I do like a good collection of good short stories, and I was expecting more from this collection than it delivered.

I did appreciate that these stories were actually set at Christmas, rather than just the depths of winter which I have found previously on so-called Christmas collections. They just weren't as dark or as challenging as I expected, especially considering the stellar line-up of authors who penned them - Fiona Cummins, Angela Clarke, A.K. Benedict, Susi Holliday, J.T. Ellison, David Bell, Sarah Hilary, Claire McGowan, Tina Baker, Sam Carrington, Liz Mistry, C.L. Taylor, Helen Fields, Russ Thomas, Tom Mead, Vaseem Khan, Samantha Hayes & Belinda Bauer. I was particularly disappointed in the Belinda Bauer story - Icarus.

My favorite story was A Deadly Gift by Angela Clarke, and from which the excerpt above is lifted. Last Christmas by Fiona Cummins and Marley's Ghost by Sarah Hilary were also entertaining. But I'm afraid I found the remainder were quite unremarkable. There was nothing particularly wrong with them, but neither were they very memorable.

⭐⭐.5

#DeathComesatChristmas #NetGalley

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Titan Books via NetGalley for providing an e-ARC of Death Comes at Christmas collated by Marie O'Regan and Paul Kane for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Titan Books in exchange for an honest review.

I haven't always had the best luck with anthologies but I am pleased to report that Death Comes at Christmas is nothing but a good time. This is a delightful mix of short stories focused on crime at Christmas time, taking place over a wide range of time periods and settings. There was a good amount of variety and surprisingly for an anthology, there were no stories I disliked particularly.

Some of my favourites were:

-How to Commit Murder in a Bookshop-A bookshop event turns sinister
-The Red Angel-A true crime podcaster crashes in the snow and ends up at a creepy house with his girlfriend
-Christmas Lights-A surprisingly touching story of grief with a somewhat sinister tone
-The Naughty List-Vigilante justice turns festive

All in all, this is a great festive read and a welcome addition to the world of Christmas thrillers. If you want something to dip in and out of on Christmas day where the stories are all of comparable quality, then this is definitely worth checking out

Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

Love, love Christmas crime cozy stories!! Great selection of contributors. Regular reader of Tom Mead and Alexandra Benedict.

This was a great collection of festive and murderous stories perfect for the holiday season! Just the right read to curl up with during a cozy reading session.

I enjoyed reading one story a night before bed during early December. There were no duds, all enjoyable.

I enjoyed reading this set of short Christmas theme stories. There weren't any in this book that I didn't like. It was interesting and very on point for the season. I love that they ranged from different genres and kept me interested. I highly recommend this book. It was so much fun to read.

Thank you Net Galley ARC and Titan Books

short story collections, especially ones with multiple authors, always end up being hit or miss for me as was the case for this one, but it was a fun way to get some christmas themed reads in this year. the short story format prevented some of them from reaching the potential i hoped for, but my favorites were the ones from fiona cummins, helen fields, and angela clarke

This was a really solid set of Christmas stories. There were some stories I liked more than others, but there weren't any duds. That's pretty rare for this kind of collection. The stories ranged from funny to creepy and were all perfect for the holiday/winter season.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

This was not the mystery collection for me. I was not expecting suspense and quasi-horror to be present, and that's really not my preference. This will absolutely land with fans of darker mysteries, though!

🎅 T H R I L L E R T H U R S D A Y short stories edition 🎅 featuring “Death Comes at Christmas”!

BOOK REVIEW: 🖤🖤🖤🖤/5

This festive book is a collection of Christmas themed thrillers/mysteries/murder/crime short stories written by an assortment of outstanding authors from these genres that dig into the dark side of the holidays!

I am not one to typically read short stories but I felt like I was watching The Christmas Carol the entire time … but with murder and mystery mixed in there! If you love a good murder mystery/whodunnit that is full of unexpected plot twists, dark grit and not so merry mischief, then this one’s for you!

Some of my favourite stories included:

🍷 How to Commit Murder in a Bookshop @cltaylorauthor
🔪 O Murder Night @thrillerchick
🔎 The Wrong Party @clairemcgowanwriter
☠️ The Naughty List @samcarringtonauthor
🎄 Frostbite @samanthahayes.author
🎁 Secret Santa @lizmistryauthor

Thank you kindly to @titanbooks @netgalley for my #gifted digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This book is out now!

Get ready to cozy up by the fire with "Death Comes at Christmas." This collection of eighteen chilling tales offers a diverse range of mysteries, from the quaint and cozy to the dark and disturbing. Whether you prefer a lighthearted whodunit or a spine-tingling thriller, this anthology has something to satisfy your holiday cravings. There's just something special about mysteries during the holiday season! Some were better than others, but a fun read nontheless to get in the vibe.

“𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬. 𝐀 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐲. 𝐎𝐟 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞… 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭?”

I liked that many of these crime-themed short stories recognized that the festive season is both joyful and sorrowful for many. Some of the stories felt a bit unfinished, partly due to length or trying to create a cliffhanger of sorts, which didn’t always work for me. However, there were some favourites that I really loved.

𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗮𝘀 𝗬𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗲 by Helen Field is a riveting sequel of sorts to A Christmas Carol.
𝗢 𝗠𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 by J.T. Ellison has Tell Tale Heart vibes, with its 1930s Irish setting that is part ghost story, part tale of terror.
𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗮𝘀 𝗟𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 by David Bell might be my favourite of all - it is a touching tale of grief and connection.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗶𝗱𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗠𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗿 by Alexandra Benedict features characters from The Christmas Jigsaw Murders; I loved catching up with Edie and Sean, and getting a glimpse of their lives beyond the novel.
𝗨𝗽𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗠𝗶𝗱𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 by Tom Mead feels like a Golden Age detective ghost story that Poirot himself might have solved.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘆 by Claire McGowan seems like a holiday tribute to the Agatha Christie short story Jane Gets A Job, with its mistaken identity switch and title character, Jayne.
𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 by Vaseem Khan uses characters from the Malabar House novels; I loved this modern tribute to a locked room mystery set in India that makes me want to search out the series!

Death Comes at Christmas contains stories of grief, deception, ghosts of the past, and memories. It has a mix of stories of varying lengths that truly does have something for everyone to enjoy, especially during the holiday season. Thank you to Titan Books and NetGalley for the ARC!

This was just the most amazing collection of short stories. I absolutely loved every one of them!! They all had such intriguing writing and it was so impressive to have them suck me in when they were so short in length.

Some of these mysteries didn't have answers? And for being short, a few dragged. Disappointing for the most part

This was a pleasant change, as I usually shy away from compilations of short stories. To be honest, I was not thrilled with every story in the book, some ended too abruptly or the ending was too ambiguous. However, I found myself enjoying the format of just picking up the book and reading a story here or a story there. It made for a very quick read. Some of the stories I thoroughly enjoyed, so I would call this book a win! Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced read copy.

This was a really great assortment of Christmas-themed short stories
There was great range with some stories having violent and disturbing conclusions, while others were more traditional Golden Age style
All in all, very satisfying

Death Comes at Christmas!

If you were looking for a Christmas Mystery and thriller short story collection - then Death Comes at Christmas is the book you need!

With 18 short stories, they’re truly is some thing for everyone! Whether you were looking for something Along the lines of a cosy mystery, Or something that gives you the Christmas, You can be sure to find it within this collection!

I loved this book so much that I’m likely going out to get a hardcopy version of it so I can have it for many Christmas seasons to come!

This is a nice alternative to all the Christmas rom-coms flooding the bookstore. However, the lineup was somewhat un-even with some stories grabbing my attention which others felt like a chore.

Thank you to Titan books, and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC of this book to read and review.

This collection is the perfect blend of cosy festive cheer and crime. Each story is unique and stands out on its own. While the theme may be the holidays and crime the way each author brings this to life is completely different. Each story stood up on its own and I have to say I enjoyed each one. I personally liked Christmas Yet to Come the most but each one was enjoyable and distinctive. O’Regan and Kane have curated the perfect collection for crime fans that will be a must read on cold winter nights.

As always thank you to Titan Books and Netgalley for the copy to review. My review is always honest, truthful and freely given.

An interesting collection of 18 murder mysteries set during Christmas time. It's filled with unexpected twist and outcomes, one of my favorite stories were The Red Angel, and Christmas Lights. From revenge, loss, animal traps and bare Christmas trees - It's a perfect book to read on a holiday or by the fire!