Christmas Mysteries at the Mysterious..., Otto Penzler
Christmas Mysteries at the Mysterious..., Otto Penzler
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Christmas Mysteries at the Mysterious Bookshop

Author: Otto Penzler

Narrator: Christina Delaine, Matt Godfrey

Unabridged: 8 hr 56 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/06/2021


Synopsis

Eighteen puzzling Christmas tales set in New York City's beloved mystery bookstore

In 1993, The Mysterious Bookshop—the oldest mystery specialty bookstore in the world—began an annual tradition by inviting bestselling author Donald E. Westlake to write an original short story set in the bookshop during the holiday season. Each year since then, The Mysterious Bookshop commissions a new short story from a leading author to give out as a holiday gift for its customers.

The prompt for the story requires three elements: that it be set at Christmastime, that it involve a crime of some kind, or the suspicion of one, and that it be set at least partially in the bookstore. Beyond these guidelines, authors had free rein to take the story in whatever direction they chose. This volume collects the first eighteen stories commissioned by the bookshop from 1993 to 2010.

Included are tales by Megan Abbott, Rupert Holmes, Mary Higgins Clark, Andrew Klavan, and Ed McBain, plus an updated introduction by Mysterious Bookshop proprietor Otto Penzler. Some of the stories are humorous, others thrilling, and still others are takes of pure detection. But all are guaranteed to put you in the holiday spirit.

Originally published as Christmas at the Mysterious Bookshop.

About Otto Penzler

Otto Penzler, proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City, founded The Mysterious Press in 1975, now an imprint at Grove/Atlantic, and publishes classic crime fiction through MysteriousPress.com. Penzler has won two Edgar Awards, MWA's Ellery Queen Award, and the Raven Award. He has been given Lifetime Achievement awards by Noircon and the Strand Magazine.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jesse on February 22, 2017

I liked this book. As with all anthologies, some stories are better than others. Some were more Christmas-ey than others and more were more mysterious than others. However, I found it to be a lot of fun. The only rules for these stories are that the story must take place at Christmas time and some o......more

Goodreads review by Linda on December 07, 2015

A great book for Christmas season. I have several books of short stories that were collected by Otto Penzler and never really knew who he was. I do now! Every year Penzler, the owner of the real Mysterious Bookshop in NYC, asks mystery authors to write a short story that he then publishes (usually fo......more

Goodreads review by Margie on December 04, 2016

A collection of short mystery stories written by 17 authors over seventeen years. Otto Penzler, owner of the Mysterious Bookshop in New York had the authors, one at a time, create a short story which he gave away as a gift each Christmas for the 17 years. A good Christmas read and the mix of stories......more

Goodreads review by Alexandria on December 07, 2016

As a Christmas gift to his loyal customers, Otto Penzler, owner of The Mysterious Bookshop, solicits a short story to be written and published by Penzler's publishing company; this book is a compilation of some of those short mysteries. Not so long ago all I read were mysteries, and I forgot how muc......more

Goodreads review by Lee on December 27, 2019

Decided to read a Christmas story this year..ended up being an anthology. All the tales take place at times in the Bookshop, and Otto is in them also. With some of the big guns in the mystery genre, this was a nice cozy mystery collection of who-dun-it's, during the holidays.......more