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Original poster

Recommendations of Christmas Ghost/ Crime Books

41 replies

Ichangedmynameonce · 07/11/2023 11:14

I like listening to these and reading them in the run up to Christmas.

I'm thinking more MR James amd Agatha Christie than anything gruesome or terrifying.

I've exhausted PDJames and MR James.

Thank you

OP posts:
swedesnow · 07/11/2023 12:34

I'm sure everyone has read it but I read Dark Matter by Michelle Paver a couple of years ago at Christmas and loved it, very atmospheric and spooky.

Hoolahoophop · 07/11/2023 12:12

Last year I enjoyed a Jane Austen Mystery a friend had given me. Jane and the 12 days of Christmas by Stephanie Barron - if you like a bit of a Regency setting and a warm cozy mystery. I really enjoyed it and now I have remembered it will read another from the series.

GalileoHumpkins · 07/11/2023 12:04

Ichangedmynameonce · 07/11/2023 11:39

@GalileoHumpkins do I need to read the appeal.first or can I read it as a standalone book? Thanks

I think it's a standalone but I highly recommend reading The Appeal anyway.

SpeculatingRooks · 07/11/2023 11:59

I recommend The Haunting Season which is a collection of short stories by various authors like Laura Purcell and Elizabeth MacNeal

Iwannaliveinstarshollow · 07/11/2023 11:57

Iwannaliveinstarshollow · 07/11/2023 11:52

Yes it does. A very cleverly written book

Saying that, although I really enjoyed the book, it's not one I would bother to reread, it didn't make me feel Christmassy particularly; whereas the others I mentioned really get me into the spirit of it each year.. you can't beat a murder on Christmas eve 😆

Iwannaliveinstarshollow · 07/11/2023 11:52

Yes it does. A very cleverly written book

Original poster
Ichangedmynameonce · 07/11/2023 11:50

Thanks @Iwannaliveinstarshollow this is a great list!!! I might go for the Christmas appeal- does it standalone?.
Thank you😊

OP posts:
Iwannaliveinstarshollow · 07/11/2023 11:46

GalileoHumpkins · 07/11/2023 11:31

For crime I have Janice Hallet's new one, The Christmas Appeal.

Ooh yes, I'll second this for a more modern read. She is an excellent writer.^^

Iwannaliveinstarshollow · 07/11/2023 11:46

GalileoHumpkins · 07/11/2023 11:31

For crime I have Janice Hallet's new one, The Christmas Appeal.

Ooh yes, I'll second this for a more modern read. She is an excellent writer.^^

Iwannaliveinstarshollow · 07/11/2023 11:45

I love all the classic mysteries that Waterstones display on the end of a shelf. Often old ones that have been republished.

I have a few festive ones that I get back out to reread at this time every year.

Currently reading Crime at Christmas, by C.H.B.Kitchin; also The Santa Klaus Murder, by Mavis Doriel Hay; Another Little Christmas Murder, by Lorna Nicholl Morgan; Mystery in White, by J.Jefferson Farjeon, and Death if my Aunt, by C.H.B.Kitchin.

All those are deliciously festive, old school, excellently written murders. I love getting them out to read again every year.

Also, I'm a big Christie fan too. I have to read Hercule Poirot's Christmas and The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding each December too!

Original poster
Ichangedmynameonce · 07/11/2023 11:39

@GalileoHumpkins do I need to read the appeal.first or can I read it as a standalone book? Thanks

OP posts:
Original poster
Ichangedmynameonce · 07/11/2023 11:37

Thank you @GalileoHumpkins

OP posts:
GalileoHumpkins · 07/11/2023 11:31

For crime I have Janice Hallet's new one, The Christmas Appeal.

Original poster
Ichangedmynameonce · 07/11/2023 11:30

Thank you @deeplybaffled they are new to me and sound good!

Yes @NearlyMonday podcasts too!

OP posts:
deeplybaffled · 07/11/2023 11:22

Anne Perry has a whole series of Christmas crime novellas set in Victorian England?

I also have a few compilations of Sherlock Holmes at Christmas, which get me in the mood😍

NearlyMonday · 07/11/2023 11:20

Oooooh me too, and possibly podcasts?