Christmas Mysteries at The Mysterious Bookshop

by Otto Penzler (Editor)

Eighteen puzzling Christmas tales set in New York City’s beloved mystery bookstore

In 1993, The Mysterious Bookshop—the oldest mystery specialty bookstore in the world—began an annual tradition by inviting bestselling author Donald E. Westlake to write an original short story set in the bookshop during the holiday season. Each year since then, The Mysterious Bookshop commissions a new short story from a leading author to give out as a holiday gift for its customers.

The prompt for the story requires three 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. Beyond these guidelines, authors had free rein to take the story in whatever direction they chose. This volume collects the first eighteen stories commissioned by the bookshop from 1993 to 2010.

Included are tales by Megan Abbott, Rupert Holmes, Mary Higgins Clark, Andrew Klavan, and Ed McBain, plus an updated introduction by Mysterious Bookshop proprietor Otto Penzler. Some of the stories are humorous, others thrilling, and still others are takes of pure detection. But all are guaranteed to put you in the holiday spirit.

Originally published as Christmas at the Mysterious Bookshop.

Genres: Christmas

Kindle Edition

Expected publication September 8, 2026

About the author

Otto Penzler is an editor of mystery fiction in the United States, and proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City, where he lives.

Otto Penzler founded The Mysteriour Press in 1975 and was the publisher of The Armchair Detective, the Edgar-winning quarterly journal devoted to the study of mystery and suspense fiction, for seventeen years.

Penzler has won two Edgar Awards, for The Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection in 1977, and The Lineup in 2010. The Mystery Writers of America awarded him the prestigious Ellery Queen Award in 1994, and the Raven--the group's highest non-writing award--in 2003.

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and Penzler Publishers for a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own! This novel is a conglomeration of 18 Christmas Holiday stories full of mystery and thrills! What started in 1993, each year the Mysterious Bookshop commissions a short story to be given out to their customers for free at Christmas time! This book contains 18 of those stories written by various well known authors. Each story takes place during Christmas season, and part of each story is written to occur inside the Mysterious Bookshop. Each story has either a crime in it or the thought that a crime may have taken place.
I really enjoyed reading these short mysteriously festive stories! They will definitely add some mysteriously festive fun to your holiday! Look for it when it comes out September 8, 2026!

[Tom Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since 1979, The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City has been the destination for mystery lovers. The shop boasts a wide selection of both new, rare and first editions. The shop's proprietor, Otto Penzler, is a leading authority on all things related to crime fiction.

In 1993, Penzler decided to create a unique Christmas gift for the shop's customers: a specially commissioned short story from a notable mystery writer. The story would be printed in booklet form and given as a bonus to customers' Christmas purchases. Over the years, the stories became a sought after item. Christmas Mysteries At The Mysterious Bookshop collects in one volume the first eighteen of these stories that were commissioned by the store.

The writers had just three rules to follow. First, the story has to be set at Christmas. Second, there must be a crime or a hint of a crime. The type of crime involved was left up to the writer. Third, The Mysterious Bookshop has to figure somehow in the story. Several contributors went a step further by making Otto Penzler a character in their story.

The end result is a highly entertaining collection of holidays themed stories of murder and mayhem. While some of the contributors were authors I knew such as Meg Abbott, Donald Westlake, Ed McBain, and Mary Higgins Clark many of the other writers were completely unknown to me. It really didn't matter whether I was familiar with the author or not as all the stories were very entertaining.

Thanks to Penzler Press and NetGalley for allowing me to review this book. No consideration was received in exchange for this review.

[DeeG Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Christmas Mysteries at the Mysterious Bookshop is a charming collection of short mystery stories centered around New York City's iconic Mysterious Bookshop.
Each story takes place, at least in part, in the bookstore. While every story includes a crime or the suspicion of one, each author brings their own unique style, making for a fun and varied collection.
As with most short story collections, some stories were stronger than others, but I enjoyed the concept behind the book. The stories range from just a few pages to much longer reads, making it easy to pick up and read one or two at a time.
One thing I was expecting was a stronger Christmas atmosphere. While the stories are set during the holiday season, many don't feel especially festive beyond the time of year. Readers looking for cozy Christmas mysteries may find the holiday element a bit lighter than expected.
Overall, this is a quick, enjoyable collection that would especially appeal to mystery lovers and fans of short fiction. It's a clever tribute to a beloved independent bookstore and the annual tradition of gifting exclusive holiday stories to its customers.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the book.

[J Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a cool read!

I was instantly intrigued when I saw the premise for this anthology. I love the idea of authors receiving the same prompt/guidelines and seeing what creations each author comes up with. An added layer is that these are special short stories written one each year from 1993-2010.

As expected with any anthology, there were certain stories that I enjoyed more than others and certain writing styles I enjoyed most. There weren’t any of the stories that I did not like.
I can envision this being a perfect December read, where I read a story each day.
The stories are each fairly short and can be read in under 20 minutes. They are the perfect bite sized stories that will provide a bit of mystery during the holiday and still include the cozy elements of a bookshop!

[Scilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun book with short Christmas stories by 18 different authors including Ed McBain, Anne Perry, Lawrence Block, S. J. Rozan, and Mary Higgins Clark. There is an introduction by Otto Penzler, the proprieter of the Mysterious Bookshop. It explains the criteria for the stories which must all take place at least partly in the Mysterious Bookshop, either on Christmas or very shortly before. Otto and his sales folks appear in the stories. They were commissioned between 1993 and 2010. My favorite stories were the last two, although, all were fun to read. You can read each story in a relatively short time so you have your choice of reading one a day or binge reading the whols book.

I thank Netgalley and Penzler Publishers for the ARC so that I could read the book before publication.

[Charissa Wilkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book courtesy of NetGalley for the purpose of a fair and honest review.

Overview: It's Christmas time at The Mysterious Bookshop. Mr. Penzler likes to publish a short story at that time. It must be a mystery, and center around The Mysterious Bookshop. What do we have in this collection? Let's find out.

Dislikes: I'm not a fan of fictionalizing real people.

Likes: Mr. Klavan had a pretty good tale, even if it was darker than I like.

Also, the memento mori like tale was fun.

This was a fun little collection. If you like mysteries, then this book is for you. Enjoy the read.

[Amy Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read other editions of Penzler's collected Christmas-themed mystery stories that are set at least partly in The Mysterious Bookshop---they're fun to read around the holidays, and the short story format means you can dole it out bit by bit. Like the other collections, the quality varies: some of the stories are great, and some are so-so. In some the bookshop is a greater feature than in others. The good stories outnumber the ones that are just so-so, definitely something to pick up in December to keep the holiday mood going even through your reading.