Golden Age Christmas Mysteries

Christmas has served as a fertile background for mystery fiction for a long time, perhaps because it has the appearance of a time of peace and love while being so deeply at odds with violence, crime and even murder. Many of the stories in this anthology have been written by some of the greatest Golden Age authors, undoubtedly inspired by the juxtaposition of the disparate elements of love and hate. The range of subjects and styles may be surprising, ranging from truly chilling to heart-warming to hilarious to puzzling. This is no accident, since genuinely talented authors have their own voices and, like snowflakes, no two are alike. Golden Age Christmas Mysteries is the perfect gift for the season, to be read on a cold, snowy night, in a comfortable chair near a blazing fire.

Otto Penzler, the creator of American Mystery Classics, is also the founder of The Mysterious Press (1975); MysteriousPress.com (2011), an electronic-book publishing company; and New York City's Mysterious Bookshop (1979). He has won a Raven, the Ellery Queen Award, two Edgars (for the Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection, 1977, and The Lineup, 2010), and lifetime achievement awards from NoirCon and The Strand Magazine. He has edited more than 70 anthologies and written extensively about mystery fiction.

CONTENTS
Anthony Boucher..................................................................Mystery for Christmas
Lillian de la Torre..............................................................The Stolen Christmas Box
Carter Dickson...............................................................Person or Things Unknown
Stanley Ellin......................................................................Death on Christmas Eve
Steve Fisher............................................................................If Christmas Comes
Pat Frank.............................................................................The Christmas Bogey
Baynard Kendrick.............................................................................Silent Night
John D. MacDonald..........................................................Dead on Christmas Street
Meredith Nicholson..........................................................A Reversible Santa Claus
Norvell Page...................................................................Crime's Christmas Carol
Ellery Queen........................................................................The Dauphin's Doll
Mary Roberts Rinehart....................................................The Butler's Christmas Eve
Damon Runyon...............................................................Dancing Dan's Christmas