Murder in the Falling Snow: Ten Classic Crime Stories (Vintage Murders)

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Sayers' Sleuths on the Scent has a classic scenario of weary travellers trapped by bad weather, this time in the bar of the Pig and Pewter. This is one of the shortest of these short stories (some are actually far too long-winded) and it's one where a thick blanket of snow is crucial to the solution of a murder mystery.

I had read the four longest entries before but was quite happy to read them all again ; the remaining six very short stories were fine. I'll just repeat what I said from that review: in which a fall from a roof in November turns out to be more sinister than originally thought. Some have what I consider to be the prerequisite of a really good short story, namely a beginning, a middle and an end with a sting in the tail which, however mild, leaves me with pause for thought. Perfect to dip in and out of between other festivities and I am building my collection of this joyous series! But for shivers down the spine, the opener Haunted House by Gladys Mitchell is well worth reading by candlelight before turning in on Christmas Eve.Some of the stories are a little obscure, but I really enjoyed The Chopham Affair, The Adventure of the Abbey Grange and The Mystery of Felwyn Tunnel. This series of books, being a collection of murder stories by well known authors, is a regular Christmas present for my wife. The Chesterton was a bit boring and since most of the action was set in South America, seemed a weird inclusion. Ten short stories from the golden age of British crime fiction, not all of which involve murder and precious few of which play out against a backdrop of snow, either falling or settled. What you do get though is ten early to mid-twentieth century, male centric murder tales with a tenuous link to winter.

I would have like a little biographical section about each author and some mention as to why each story was chosen.Well I just inhale short stories at Christmas, there is just something about cold winter nights, curled up in front of the fire, solving murders from the sofa! All of these classic stories have their merit, but I think the seasonal theme is sometimes stretched a little too far, with one of the stories set in late October – cold though the featured lonely signal box no doubt is! I don't think I am being unfair by saying that even though some of these authors are well-known and respected the particular stories in this book are hardly their best work. Some of the other stories are less good and I didn't really like the Father Brown story that's included at all. The sub-title "Ten Classic Crime Stories" gives it away that Cecily Gayford put these stories together.

I also liked the Sayers story starring her lesser-known detective, commercial traveller Montague Egg, and the Sherlock Holmes story, though I'd read both of these before. Outstanding is The Chopham Affair by Edgar Wallace, in which a smooth-talking conman finally picks the wrong mark.

Whilst there are now much fewer instances of stories set at Christmas, all the stories are set in the cold or snowy winter months. Every Christmas I treat myself to anthologies of murder mysteries from the Golden Age (sometimes beyond) and this proved to be a very solid and entertaining example of said type.