Book Review: Murder On A Winter’s Night (Murderous Christmas Stories #6)

“In the bleak midwinter … murder awaits.”

Part of the Murderous Christmas Stories series, Murder On A Winter’s Night is a collection of ten classic crime stories. From a Santa Claus with a secret to a violent theft that snowballs into something quite unexpected, pull up a chair, throw another log on the fire … and let history’s greatest crime writers surprise, delight and chill you to the bone.

Rating:

I recently found this book in a charity shop and was so excited by the prospect of a collection of crime stories set over winter. And what better way to get in the Christmas mood than with a bit of murder?!

Sadly, not every story features a gruesome murder, as I soon realised that this was a collection of crime stories rather than every winter’s night seeing an unexpected death. But as a collection, this was a fantastic combination of crimes and misdemeanours, and every story held my interest in some way.

Normally with short story collections, I don’t see the point in half of the stories and often feel like they neglect to get their message across. But I found every story very effective here and enjoyed 90% of them.

My favourite stories were A Surprise for Christmas by Cyril Hare and Underneath the Mistletoe Last Night by Mark Billingham which really stood out for me. They both packed a real punch and brilliantly managed to shock in only a small amount of pages.

So if you’re looking for a quick read for a winter’s night, this one is definitely worth a go!