Mistletoe Mysteries

by Charlotte MacLeod (Editor)

Every one of the great detectives of literature, from Sherlock Holmes to Hercule Poirot to Nero Wolfe, has endured a holiday marred by murder. Now, modern mystery writers including Mary Higgins Clark, Marcia Muller, Aaron Elkins, and others place their detectives in a Yuletide setting for a special mix of murder and mistletoe.

Genres: Mystery, Christmas, Short Stories, Holiday, Fiction, Anthologies, Cozy Mystery

276 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 1989

About the author

Naturalized US Citizen

Also wrote as Alisa Craig

Charlotte MacLeod, born in New Brunswick, Canada, and a naturalized U.S. citizen, was the multi-award-winning author of over thirty acclaimed novels. Her series featuring detective Professor Peter Shandy, America's homegrown Hercule Poirot, delivers "generous dollops of...warmth, wit, and whimsy" (San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle). But fully a dozen novels star her popular husband-and-wife team of Sarah Kelling and Max Bittersohn. And her native Canada provides a backdrop for the amusing Grub-and-Stakers cozies written under the pseudonym Alisa Craig and the almost-police procedurals starring Madoc Rhys, RCMP. A cofounder and past president of the American Crime Writers League, she also edited the bestselling anthologies Mistletoe Mysteries and Christmas Stalkings.

Reviews

[Judy Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an e-ARC of this collection of short stories through NetGalley and Open Road Integrated Media.

Sometimes it's just relaxing to settle down with a book that has one purpose, in this case that purpose would be to read a collection of short stories based on the Yuletide season. This collection was first released in 1989 and each of the stories contained in the book was published in 1989. This edition will be released again in December 2016 with an eye-catching updated cover. What was of great interest to me was reading the short introductory material by Charlotte MacLeod which preceded the story. It was pretty much amazing to me to see how many of these giants of the mystery genre were already so well established in their writing careers in 1989. Here is the author and title of each story in this collection in the order in which the story appears.

Charlotte MacLeod: A Cozy for Christmas
Peter Lovesey: The Haunted Crescent
Dorothy Salisbury Davis: Christopher and Maggie
Eric Wright: Kaput
John Lutz: The Live Tree
Howard Engel: The Three Wise Guys
Mary Higgins Clark: That's the Ticket
Bill Pronzini: Here Comes Santa Claus
Sharyn McCrumb: A Wee Doch and Doris
Henry Slesar: The Man Who Loved Christmas
Edward D. Hoch: The Touch of Kolyada
Aaron Elkins: Dutch Treat
Susan Dunlap: Ott on a Limb
Isaac Asimov: Ho! Ho! Ho!
Marcia Muller: Silent Night

Each of the stories is very short, so if you want to take fifteen days to work your way through this book you will have a little taste of a Christmas mystery along the way. If you want to read these stories in the middle of a scorching heat wave of summer, the stories are still so well written you will enjoy them at that time as well. Each of the stories is different from all the rest, not a redundancy among them which is quite a feat all by itself. Only one story wasn't a particular favorite for me, but I still was interested to sample the work of the author. This collection will appeal to any reader who loves to see how highly regarded authors of their time managed to turn out stories which were interesting and engaging with nary a cuss word to worry about. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

[Shiloah · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were three stories I really enjoyed. The rest were either just okay or drudgery. Two stories I skipped completely. I’m glad I read it, but it made me miss my phenomenal British mystery writers.

[Lea · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of fifteen short mystery stories first published in 1989. All were very different from each other and most were very enjoyable. I googled a few things mentioned in the stories and appreciated that some stories were based on Christmas customs that were unfamiliar to me. In several stories real locations were used. It was fun to Google and see photos of the real places.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Christmas short story collection by popular (at the time) mystery writers. A few were still unknown to me, but I was teen at this time and might have missed the "reading window" for them. Mistletoe Mysteries was actually published initially in 1990, a few years before Christmas Stalkings. It was reissued this month in digital format.

The majority of these were very enjoyable. A couple of standouts were the stories by Peter Lovesey & Charlotte MacLeod. As I said of the other collection, mystery lovers will find lots to like here. They are the perfect length to read in December, when if you are like me, your reading time is sparse. Just remember you are only getting a smaller part of a picture. Recommended!

**Many thanks to NetGalley and Open Road Media for a copy to read and review**

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a quick read and OK Christmas stories

[Mo · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was hoping that this collection of short stories would be perfect for Christmas week. The first one was atrocious, and I quickly moved on to a different book.

[Steven Freeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun little short story mysteries with a holiday theme.

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was looking forward to reading this collection of Christmas stories. Some of these were ok and some are not worth mentioning.

[Bruddenbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

In den letzten Tagen habe ich mir "Tödliche Weihnachten – Ein mörderisches Adventspaket" zu Gemüte geführt: 15 Kurzgeschichten, kuratiert von der amerikanischen Krimi-Grande-Dame Charlotte MacLeod. Das Niveau war gleichbleibend hoch, aber ich habe wieder einmal feststellen müssen, dass es einen Krimitypen gibt, der mich überhaupt nicht fesselt: sobald ein hartgesottener Typ anfängt Whiskey zu schlürfen, den Colt auf dem Tisch ablegt und einer kühlen Blondine nachlechzt, bin ich raus. Pfui 😅

Überragend fand ich den Beitrag von Peter Lovesey, dort meinte ich Anklänge von Shirley Jackson UND Charles Dickens festzustellen. Besser geht es eigentlich nicht, oder?

🛷🫖☃️

Ein bunter Reigen, der mir insgesamt viel Freude bereitet hat. Für Fans von Kurzgeschichten empfohlen. (Extratipp: In der überarbeiteten Version lesen. Diese Übersetzung war stellenweise holprig.)

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mistletoe Mysteries, a collection of short stories collected by Charlotte MacLeod made for a nice little holiday diversion and a nifty addition to my reading for the Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge. The book is made up of a variety of mystery story types by authors ranging from Mary Higgins Clark and Isaac Asimov to Marcia Muller and Aaron Elkins. It has everything from ghost stories to murders and robberies to missing teenagers. I enjoyed nearly all of the stories--there were just a few weaker tales hidden among the holiday gold. My favorite stories are "The Haunted Crescent" by Peter Lovesy and "Silent Night" by Marcia Muller.

In "The Haunted Crescent" we have one of the ghost stories in the collection. An ex-policeman is waiting in a reputedly haunted house on Christmas Eve. We are told that this is when the ghost is said to walk. Right on schedule, a pale young woman in white appears and the tale unfolds....but there is an unexpected twist at the end that makes this story more than your run-of-the mill ghost story. Lovesy does an excellent job of drawing the reader in and then pulling a clever bit of sleight of hand to change the perspective.

"Silent Night" finds Muller's detective, Sharon McCone, scouring the city on Christmas Eve for her run away nephew. The charm of this story isn't so much the mystery--there isn't much beyond the mystery of the nephew's location--but in what Sharon learns about her nephew and herself along the way. It is a nice, very short tale of redemption and how just a little attention to others can make a difference.

I give this collection three and a half stars out of five--with the two stories above rating four stars apiece.

[Robert Schneider · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with most short story collections this is a mixed bag of good, okay and not so good. It does help that short story is just that, short, so when misfires for you it is just a few pages to skip over before you start the next. There were a couple that I had to skip to the end and read the last page to get the finish of the story. Yes, I have a problem with not knowing the ends of stories, even the ones I don't like. There were two that were stand out stories for me. Silent Night by Marcia Muller and The Haunted Crescent by Peter Lovesey made the collection for me. The Haunted Crescent had a twist at the end that caught me off guard. I will have to find something else these writers have done.

On a side note, and nothing against the authors but I have always wondered about collections like this where the editor tells you how famous and popular the collected authors are. The introductions are always written as if the authors and their characters are known to all on a level the likes of Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes or Earl Stanley Gardner and Perry Mason. Who are they and when and where were they writing? I have only heard of just 3 or 4 and I have been reading mysteries for close to 35 years.

[Maquel Hyde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short stories. I liked some more than others.

[Selah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always like to read some short stories for Christmas-time, and this was a great collection!

[stephanie huntington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great selection of Christmas stories. After all these years I still miss Charlotte MacLeod.

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was astonished not to find a dud in the bunch. Other reviewers evaluate differently, of course.

Charlotte MacLeod - "A Cozy for Christmas". Not an intro but a story involving an actual tea cozy. Events apparently simultaneous with The Convivial Codfish, which I will assume is as good as the other novels in that series. Like them, this is charming and clever.

Peter Lovesey - "The Haunted Crescent". A Christmas ghost story, with a nice twist.

Dorothy Salisbury Davis - "Christopher and Maggie". Legerdemain for the win. And sending a doubtless futile plea into the GoodReads ether: What's the point of the name Willie Smith in the last line? Neither the ballplayer nor the saxophonist seem relevant. (The story does stand w/o it.)

Eric Wright - "Kaput". A dying-message story in the established tradition. Even if you figure out the primary trick, as I did, there are convolutions enough to keep you going. More, in fact, than I like, but that's taste, not quality.

John Lutz - "The Live Tree". Not what it seems, and a Good Thing that.

Howard Engel - "The Three Wise Guys". Not Damon Runyan, but it'll do.

Mary Higgins Clark - "That's the Ticket". Not at ALL what I would have expected from reading the blurbs as I ordered her novels in audio (from the Library of Congress) for my late mother.

Bill Pronzini - "Here Comes Santa Claus". Character-driven fun, with some slapstick. I've scheduled to try more of his stuff when the plague has lifted.

Sharyn McCrumb - "A Wee Doch and Doris". Minor spoiler perhaps . . . :
Ellery Queen Magazine would have bought this, some decades ago when I was reading it. A more pleasant surprise without that context.

Henry Slesar - "The Man Who Loved Christmas". An inevitable end neatly reached.

Edward D. Hoch - "The Touch of Kolyada". I've read Hoch but don't remember meeting the fantastic Simon Ark until now. Out of Hoch's reported 800, those stories must be a smallish percentage. And my libraries have both apparently decided he's passé. AH, well; I enjoyed this one.

Aaron Elkins - "Dutch Treat". Another Ellery Queen-style crime story, with a final grim twist after the semi-final one.

Susan Dunlap - "Ott on a Limb". Blackmail story, with a satisfactory last line.

Isaac Asimov - "Ho! Ho! Ho!". I think Asimov played a little too fairly here--I twigged to the twist very early, because his wording made it easy--but it still works.

Marcia Muller - "Silent Night". Just sentimental enough for the anthology finale.

[Cathy Hooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of stories by noted mystery authors was written in 1989. Mystery short stories are very different than mystery novels. No time to set up characters, motivations and clues make it hard to write a good whodunit. So some authors write one that has no build-up or chance for the reader to figure it out. Some write one that has a funny twist. Some have familiar characters from their novels;some venture into new waters. I was familiar with many of these authors and enjoyed catching up with their characters. Like most short story anthologies I loved some, found some boring, and at least one left me scratching my head wondering what I read.

[Richard]

A Cozy for Christmas, Charlotte MacLeod: MacLeod is not exactly my cup of tea, but I do see why people like her books. This is a very light, very familiar story set between the pages of one of her other books. It's fine.

The Haunted Crescent, Peter Lovesey: I'd read this story before somewhere, so I thought I was absolutely sure of where it was obviously going. I was wrong. And delighted.

Christopher and Maggie, Dorothy Salisbury Davis: this is a cute story with well-drawn characters, but the ending made me feel like I had missed something.

Kaput, Eric Wright: nope

The Live Tree, John Lutz: this is an extremely corny and cliché story, but I didn't hate it. I'd had the impression that Lutz was a much darker writer. On the basis of this, I'll take another look at his novels.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only story in this book that I actually enjoyed was the first by Charlotte MacLeod. It had the best Christmas atmosphere and was very funny. Each of the other stories had interesting intros, also by Charlotte MacLeod, but the stories themselves didn't work out for me. Part of the problem is that I just don't enjoy mysteries in short story form and some of these were a bit grittier and more suspenseful than I like in a mystery. Every year I give a short story Christmas collection a try and some years it works better for me than othes.

That said, if you enjoy short mysteries and aren't put off by darker mysteries (I prefer cozies) then you might very well enjoy this collection.

[Melissa Borsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. I really like to read short stories, when they are done well, they can be very fun. This book is a compilation of Christmas inspired short -stories. Some of the stories were quite boring and then there were other stories that were very fun to read. I found a couple of authors in this book that I may have to look up and give their other books a look. I highly recommend this fun, holiday inspired book of short stories.

[Vee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Das Buch ist einfach nur eine Enttäuschung. Ich habe das ja schon in einem Status Update geschrieben das diese Kurzgeschichte so gut wie fast nichts mit Weihnachten zu tun haben und wirkliche Krimis sind das auch nicht gewesen. Ich breche das Buch ab.

[Linda Wallace · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very uneven. Although written by well-known and well respected mystery authors, some of the short stories really fell short ( sorry for the pun) of being a mystery.

[Darren Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mistletoe Mysteries claims to promise "yuletide murder" but fails to deliver on its tagline. While the collection brings together short stories from various acclaimed authors, many stories lack the depth and detail to engage you while reading. Given that not all of the stories involve murder, which much disappointed me and may other readers, you may want to skip this all together for stronger Christmas mysteries. That said, the collection does provide an intriguing glimpse into some atypical Christmas traditions from various cultures, adding a unique flavor to the otherwise lackluster anthology.

If you're looking for the highlights, skip the bulk of the book and focus on these highlights: "Kaput" by Eric Wright and "That's the Ticket" by Mary Higgins Clark. These stories stand out for their cleverness and stronger narrative execution. Overall, however it feels that Charlotte MacLeod didn't try to hard when searching for Christmas stories, and reading her supplied blurbs before stories makes me think she was propping up the stories of friends in the business. Feel free to pick it up for the few tales mentioned or simply leave it hidden under your tree. 3 stars overall.

-------

Individual Ratings:

1. "A Cozy for Christmas" by Charlotte MacLeod (2 Stars)
2. "The Haunted Crescent" by Peter Lovesey (4 Stars)
3. "Christopher and Maggie" by Dorothy Salisbury Davis (3 Stars)
4. "Kaput" by Eric Wright (5 Stars)
5. "The Live Tree" John Lutz (4 Stars)
6. "The Three Wise Guys" by Howard Engel (1 Star)
7. "That's The Ticket" by Mary Higgins Clark (5 Stars)
8. "Here Comes Santa Claus" by Bill Pronzini (4 Stars)
9. "A Wee Doch and Doris" by Sharyn McCrumb (4 Stars)
10. "The Man Who Loved Christmas" by Henry Slesar (2 Stars)
11. "The Touch of Koyada" by Edward D Hoch (3 Stars)
12. "Dutch Treat" by Aaron Elkins (3 Stars)
13. "Ott On A Limb" by Susan Dunlap (1 Star)
14. "Ho! Ho! Ho!" by Issac Asimov (4 Stars)
15. "Silent Night" by Marcia Muller (3 Stars)

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another collection of Christmas themed mysteries, edited by Charlotte MacLeod. The collection contains several great stories by authors I know well and love. However, though most of the stories are great reads, some are not so great. I guess that happens when you have a collection of stories by different authors. I had never heard of many of the authors before this book, so I cannot compare these stories to their other works. In the case of those I did know, I found the stories in this volume as well done and as interesting as other works by them that I have read. One thing I did notice as I read, however, in some cases, there was not much of a mystery in the story. Many of these resembled feel-good, holiday stories we find everywhere. One good thing is the fact that the stories are short, so, if you do not particularly enjoy it, you are finished with the story quick enough.

The book provides a great way to read about and get into the holiday. I particularly enjoyed Asimov’s “Ho, Ho, Ho” which involved department-store Santa training with a twist, Mary Higgins Clark’s “That’s the Ticket, the story of a couple who finally hit it big in the lottery, and Marcia Muller’s “Silent Night”, where a tough PI spends Christmas looking for his run-away nephew. As with her other collection of Yuletide stories, Charlotte MacLeod inserted an intro before each story, which I personally could have done without. Some may have found this interesting, but I did not.

These stories were originally published years ago, with this a re-release, which is interesting to note. This does help me understand the stories better, as many did seem a bit outdated and strange for today. The stories will be interesting for those who recognize and/or enjoy the authors or for a reader looking for something written by well-known authors. I received this from NetGalley to read and review.

[Lisa Kucharski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Snagged this book at the Newberry Book Fair just to have a collection of some Christmas mysteries I haven’t read... and still have a flair for being mysteries vs sugared cozies.

Would say this collection is fairly visceral and gritty at times with the stories. The endings not always happy, but certainly something was afoot!
Found most really interesting and others, like only 2 or 3 use over effusive writing that bogged down the story. Very interesting locations and topics covered in these mysteries: from the Canadian north to a men’s club to gay club in San Francisco.

Really liked the Ed Hoch, Isaac Asimov, Marcia Muller,Henry Slesar & Peter Lovesey. If you’ve read through a lot of Christmas mysteries and have read some of the standards (eg- The Blue Carbuncle) often enough this would be a good collection to check out.

Many of these mysteries are headed up by private investigators, police and people who happen to be observant. Would prefer to be able to give this 3 1/2 stars.

[moxieBK · Rating 2 out of 5]

​Mistletoe Mysteries — Collected by Charlotte MacLeod (15 short stories) Dec. 21-24, 2017

I remembered reading this book when I was just out of college. When I saw this as an ebook, I decided to buy it and re-read it. This book is a hard to rate. Best way to describe it is that there is something in here for everyone, however, not all of them were what I thought of as Holiday stories. One or two only mentioned the holidays in passing. One story was paranormal as well. One story was so bland, that I couldn’t find the mystery in it, and I ended up moving along to the next. Luckily, all of these are short, so if one doesn’t impress you can usually find another that delights.

Overall, a pretty decent collection. Nothing to write home about, but enjoyable enough to be considered not a waste.

Favorites were: The Haunted Crescent; The Live Tree.

Two stars.

[drowningmermaid]

The first one is resoundingly bad. A side-story fanfic for a series I've never read. Tons of characters are mentioned briefly and then never again. But a very vain moment for MacLeod to start off the book with the assumption that anyone reading this one must be intimately familiar with the rest of her work.

Then we have a ghost story.

Then a story about two magicians.

Then a story that has only slightly to do with Christmas, but it takes place in the cold so that counts. A somewhat convoluted story within a story, but I liked it.

Then another ghost story. In which a family meets an escaped convict and become convinced that it's a Christmas miracle.

Then a Christmas noir with a faux hard-boiled detective.

Short. Reasonably fun Christmas mysteries.

[Reading Cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mix. Most of these 'mysteries' are basic tricks or 'howdunnits', probably limited by the space constraint in a short story. A few are predictable--though the Asimov one was an old gem. There was a great ghost story, and the tea cosy story at the beginning is an absolute highlight. Some are predictable, or are too much trick and not enough good quality writing.

[Tomi Alger · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are short stories of murder and mystery all centered around Christmastime. Some authors I recognized, such as Mary Higgins Clark and Isaac Asimov, but others I did not know, such as Bill Prozini and Edward H. Hoch. One surprise ending was the man stuck in the chimney! It was a pleasant read of short stories.

[Peter Barr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collections of Christmas short stories. Some I'm familiar with and others not. Most are murder mysteries. Even though the subject is primarily murder mysteries, the Christmas shines through, although somberly in some cases. There are some surprises and a few chuckles. It's a nice spread for the holidays.

[Vicki Gooding · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three of the stories I jumped over because of the cultish theme, but the rest were pretty good. The author was the first story, which I enjoyed. I still do not know what a tea cozy is, but the story was good. Dorothy Salisbury Davis, Mary Higgins Clark, Bill Pronzini, Sharyn McCrumb, Henry Slesar, Edward D. Hoch, Issac Asimov were authors who gripped me in enjoyment. A book worth reading.