152. Murder in the Falling Snow – Ed. Cecily Gayford

While I love that title, I did not really enjoy this collection. It turns out amateur detective and crime short stories are not my cup of tea. There are several of these crime short story collections with great titles like A Very Murderous Christmas and Murder in Midwinter, and of course this one, which also has a great title and they all have classic authors.

Murder in the Falling Snow included the first work by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle featuring Sherlock Holmes that I have ever read, and yet, I did not really enjoy it. Most of the stories were a bit of a slog for me and I am apparently not a fan of the conclusions involving listening to someone talk and explain the whole thing; it’s a bit like when Stan on South Park starts telling you about how he learned something today…while I love South Park, that’s still an “it is what it is” sort of moment whenever it happens and it’s funniest when it gets subverted.

One story did involve an actual ghost, but it also involved a lot of talk about train lines and embezzling and, frankly, there are more interesting crimes to become a ghost with unfinished business over. I mean, he was also murdered, but still, his ghost did nothing but speak of building a new train line. If I came back as a ghost to give lectures about what I know about guinea pigs, it would also be quite boring for a lot of people. Also, that’s totally what’s going to happen if I have guinea pigs that outlive me. I will be checking on them from beyond the grave, no doubt in my mind. I could tell them about building train lines.

During falling snow or me typing about murder, Snuffy and Thorfy are usually napping. Nothing phases them when it comes to weather or murders. Or train lines.