Welcome to Day 2 of #12booksofchristmas. During December I am sharing 12 festive reads. The idea came from the wonderful Icelandic tradition of Jolabokaflod where a book is given on Christmas Eve and read together. In case you’ve missed yesterday's book below is a list of #12books so far this year….

Day One - Countdown to Christmas by Jo Thomas

It would not be Christmas without……. For some people that might be Christmas Radio Times, watching a particular film or celebrating with a certain box of chocolate brand. For me it would not be Christmas without a British Library Crime Classic set at Christmas. This was the series responsible for starting off our Jolobokoflod tradition. And indeed the first Jolobokoflod was from this series. The publishers now provide us with an annual festive offering of these stories which are perfect to read in that post Christmas slump between Christmas and New Year, a blazing fire lit and something alcoholic to hand.

The Plot

The murder of Father Christmas in the grotto of London’s busiest Toy Shop is just one of the many yuletide disasters in this new collection of short stories from the Golden Age of Crime writing and beyond. Martin Edwards had curated a special collection with something for every reader of mystery and detective fiction, including classic offerings from masters of the genre such as John Dickson Carr; Michael Gilbert and Ellis Peters alongside gems from the 1980s and 1990s by Patricia Moyes and Catherine Aird

It is well worth reading Martin Edwards introduction which details the pains that he and a number of antiquarian booksellers to go to seek out little heard of Christmas stories by beloved authors. And the care and detail shines through  in this collection.

Stories I particularly enjoyed included The Christmas Thief by Frank Howel Evans, about a pair of young men down on their luck who become involved in a political plot, and the terrifying (I Thought is was halloween again terrifying!) Death at Christmas by Glyn Daniel about a man who pays a ghostly homage to the home of his dead wife.

Interestingly Martin Edwards has chosen some of the stories from the 1980s and 1990s and these are seamless works in an already excellent collection of stories.

So stoke up the fire, pour yourself a glass of excellent port, move your phone to another room and enjoy my dears.