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

Product Information

There's no overall introduction, there's no introduction to any of the individual stories, it's just the stories. This is a collection of 10 short classic crime stories that all feature a murder and take place in a wintry setting. A pretty ragtag selection, all told, with only Conan Doyle’s ‘The Adventure of the Abbey Grange’ and Edgar Wallace’s sneakily structured ‘The Clapham Affair’ truly standing out. I liked the vast majority of this collection and there are some authors in here that I will definitely read from again.

I would have like a little biographical section about each author and some mention as to why each story was chosen.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 really enjoyed Mr Pontings Alibi by the latter, twistingly clever, designed to fox the reader and just great fun to read! Unbelievably, this is the seventh seasonal collection in this series of cosy crime short stories edited by Cecily Gayford.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. JANICE HALLETT, THE SUNDAY TIMESIt's only the afternoon, but dusk is already falling and a log fire burning in the grate. 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.

Though the stories are certainly classics, some of them haven't quite maintained their appeal and intrigue into our modern times. So bundle up, grab a glass of mulled wine, and get ready to be puzzled, astonished and entertained by these festive stories of murder and mayhem. My favourites in this were the Sherlock Holmes (which I've read many times), The Chopham Affair, and Haunted House, but my absolute favourite was The Mystery of Felwyn Tunnel, which is very like The Signalman by Charles Dickens, a story that I love. Loved the plots and characters, such of which would not look out of place on a television adaptation now. Perhaps a bit more than just the title and author, even just the date first published (even the credits at the back of the book only mentions 4 of the stories and no dates), would have been the icing on the cake.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.

A reasonable selection of classic crime stories, but there is no editor's introduction and it is disappointing that no sources or dates of publication are given. In The Mystery of Felwyn Tunnel by LT Meade and Robert Eustace, our narrator investigates the mysterious deaths of two signalmen on a remote section of the mountainous Welsh railway. An enjoyable quick read, it's just 182 pages, the stories all work, some better than others, of course.Here are ten classic crime stories for the winter months, from the greatest minds of the mystery genre. The seasonal murder book market is flooded and there’s a whiff of barrel scraping here but, despite that, some major authors are included. This series of books, being a collection of murder stories by well known authors, is a regular Christmas present for my wife. Some of the other stories are less good and I didn't really like the Father Brown story that's included at all.