CRIMINAL SHORT STORIES FOR CHRISTMAS: SILENT NIGHTS by MARTIN EDWARDS and SKIN AND BONES by PAUL DIORON
Short stories are always good to dip into over the Christmas holiday period and I recently came across two enjoyable collections, one new and one old!
Martin Edwards’ Silent Nights, part of the British Library Crime Classics, has been around for some time, but has been re-issued in Australia in time for Christmas by the good people at NewSouth Books.
This marvellous collection of Christmas themed short stories from the ‘Golden Age of murder’, is a great book to curl with up after Christmas lunch, or between overs during the Boxing Day cricket test. Edwards has gathered together enjoyable stories from the usual suspects, such as Arthur Conan Doyle, Dorothy L. Sayers, Margery Allingham and a rather dated Father Brown tale by G. K. Chesterton, and from some other lesser known authors.
Two of my favourite stories were by authors previously unknown to me. Ethel Lina White’s Waxworks is a suitably creepy tale set in a waxworks museum on Christmas Eve, while Ralph Plummer’s Parlour Tricks is a light story, but interesting in its portrayal of Christmas in a boarding house.
Also adding to the pleasure, is the usual erudite and fascinating introduction by Martin Edwards.
Silent Nights would make for a good present for the crime addict in your family, or for yourself!
There are no Christmas stories in Paul Doiron’s Skin And Bones (Minotaur), but it is still a damn good collection to read this holiday season.
Doiron’s recent novels about Maine Game Warden Investigator Mike Bowditch have been outstanding thrillers, especially Dead By Dawn and Pitch Dark, that have kept me frantically turning the pages from beginning to end. The short stories in Skin And Bones are more considered, but no less enjoyable, and, like Doiron’s novels, draw much of their appeal from the vivid depictions of life in the Maine wilderness.
The stories cover the various stages of Bowditch’s career from rookie game warden to experienced investigator to being back on the patrol beat in the most recent story. There are also a couple of very good and reflective stories featuring Bowditch’s mentor, the legendary Maine woodsman and bush pilot Charley Stevens.
My favourite entry is probably ‘Snakebite’, in which Mike has to work out whether a recent attack on a teenager by a rattlesnake was bad luck or something more sinister. The serpentine plot is very clever, and exciting, but a lot of the reading pleasure comes from Doiron’s fascinating background information on rattlesnakes and the strong cast of secondary characters drawn naturally from the local community. It also showcases Doiron’s skill in being able to create a nuanced central character in Bowditch, who is a good investigator, but sometimes lacking in the social skills that he needs. It is an outstanding piece of work.
Fans of the series will also appreciate the final story, ‘Sheep’s Clothing’, which updates readers on what happened to Bowditch following the bloody conclusion to the last novel, Pitch Dark.
For many years C. J. Box was the premier American author of wilderness/wildlife crime novels, but I think in recent years Doiron has caught up and passed him. Check him out.
I listened to Skin And Bones on Audible and thought that the narration by Henry Leyva was outstanding, especially in how he was able to distinctly adapt his voice between Bowditch and Charley Stevens, and the other characters.
Here is a link to my review of Doiron’s last book, Pitch Dark: https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/spring-cleaning-the-best-crime-novels-and-thrillers-of-2024-so-far/