The Christmas Card Crime and other Stories is a compilation of mystery stories edited by Martin Edwards for the British Library Crime Classics series, which is reprinting and highlighting classic authors. These feature the darker side of the festive season, neglected stories that may have only been printed once decades ago - some fresh and exciting, and some in my opinion, pretty creaky.
The Christmas Card Crime (1934) is by Donald Stuart, a prolific mass production writer who has faded from the bookshelves. The delicious premise has: a winter snowstorm; a train full of strangers stranded at a remote Inn in the dark of night; a missing girl; a stabbing; romance; an abduction; an illegitimate child; a great fortune; and a torn Christmas card providing the solution to the whole mystery. It also has a most entertaining first line: "With a long hiss of escaping steam that sounded like light relief the Western Express came to a halt beside the platform at Bodmin Station".
The Motive (1937) by Ronald Knox is an OK short mystery told in flashback by a judge to his peers. Knox is credited with devising the classic set of 'ten commandments' - rules for members of the famous Detection Club of which he was a founding member.
Carter Dickson (the pen name of John Dickson Carr) offers Blind Man's Hood from 1937. Carr excelled at locked-room mysteries and this tale of betrayal and murder told in flashback features a killer who could not possibly have done it - the murder cursing the house with a ghostly presence.
Paul Temple's White Christmas by Frances Durbridge is a rare story from the Radio Times in 1946. As a fan of the Paul Temple mystery series I was excited to read this, but Paul and his wife Steve don't have much to do in this short 6 page story, except wish they were in Switzerland for Christmas.
A Christmas Tragedy by Baroness Orczy (creator of The Scarlet Pimpernel) appeared in 1909, and seemed to me to creak like old boards. The dated style of the writing did not engage me.
By The Sword by Selwyn Jepson was published in 1930, featuring a questionable family curse that every member dies by sword, and a killer who would have got away with murder, were it not Fate stepped in.
This suffers from a truncated half-page resolution.
Sister Bettie, or Your Old Leech by Cecil Hare in 1949 is the darkest story of the lot. Timothy Trent has been extorted for money every Christmas for years by someone in his own family. He was so sure it was James, whom he had gotten rid of earlier in the year, but now at the annual gathering he will have to pick another. His inner dialogue is so filled with disgust and venom while displaying affection for all, and this has a great twist ending.
A Bit of Wire Pulling is by the underrated E.C.R. Lorac (Edith Caroline Rivett) and Pattern of Revenge is from John Bude. Both are writers of classic era mysteries unpublished for decades which the British Library Crime Classic series are now reviving. These are slight stories - a little predictable and not their best.
Crime at Lark Cottage by John Bingham is quite ingenious, featuring a man whose trapped car leads him to a remote cottage on a rainy night. The woman and daughter who occupy it are both terrified of her incarcerated husband who has escaped police and may attack that night. Terrific plotting leads to a great twist ending.
'Twixt the Cup and the Lip by Julian Symons is a real treat, the best of the book. A short story complex enough to be expanded into a novel, reminding me distinctly of author Donald Westlake. Rossiter Payne is not only an established London bookseller, he has a penchant for crime. London's best department store is displaying Russian family jewels, well protected and secure to be sure. Payne has a genius plan to assemble a small team, distract the security and staff, steal the jewels and get them to a fence within an hour. Despite a few setbacks, they might just do it. A fun read, well executed!
While not every story was a great, the gems that hit the target were well worth the read. The British Library Crime Classics has two other Christmas themed compilations, and it's always a treat to read stories from the classic era.
2018 / Tradeback / 224 pages
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