Recommendations of Christmas Ghost/ Crime Books

[Ichangedmynameonce]

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

Oooooh me too, and possibly podcasts?

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😍

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

Yes @NearlyMonday podcasts too!

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

Thank you @GalileoHumpkins

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

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!

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

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

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

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 😆

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

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

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.

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.

Thank you @SpeculatingRooks I enjoyed the Haunting Season and @swedesnow I completely loved Dark Matter.
Thanks @Hoolahoophop that sounds like a possibility!

Any more ideas?

If you like Michelle Paver, Wakenhyrst is really good.

I enjoyed The Winter Ghosts and The Mistletoe Bride, both by Kate Mosse.

Susan Hill has written some good ghostly short stories.

Thanks @SheikhDjibouti I've read both of those and really enjoyed them.

Has susan hill done anything Christmassy,? Thank you

Not sure the Susan Hill short stories were Christmassy, but they are good old fashioned ghost stories.

Nicola Upson - The Dead Of Winter. The whole Josephine Tey series of books is fantastic but this is a Christmassy one.

Ooh thank you @Gobolino80

Just finished ‘The Christmas Appeal’ by Janice Hallett, which others have mentioned. I loved it, a really good festive crime (and funny)read.

Georgette Heyer - A Christmas Party. Love her detective novels