{"id":7537,"date":"2017-12-10T06:00:01","date_gmt":"2017-12-10T11:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.spritewrites.net\/?p=7537"},"modified":"2017-12-10T06:18:06","modified_gmt":"2017-12-10T11:18:06","slug":"virtual-advent-tour-day-10-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spritewrites.net\/?p=7537","title":{"rendered":"virtual advent tour: day 10"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"virtual<\/center><\/p>\n

Welcome to the second sunday of Advent and day 10 of the Virtual Advent Tour!<\/p>\n

I’m your host again today and thought I’d give quick review of a holiday read I’ve recently finished:<\/p>\n

\"Mistletoe<\/a>Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories<\/i> by P.D. James<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rudi and I listened to the first three-quarters of this 2016 collection of four short stories by the late mystery author driving home after Thanksgiving and I finished it up one night while knitting. The first two stories are standalones, while the latter two feature her famous detective, Adam Dalgliesh. <\/p>\n

The title story, written in 1991, is told by a woman looking back on Christmas 1940 when she was a newly widowed war worker invited by an estranged aunt to spend the holiday with her and her cousin. It turns out that they are also to be spent with a distant relative she’s never met, an unpleasant man who is murdered in a locked room before the day is over. <\/p>\n

The second story, “A Very Commonplace Murder,” was James’ very first short story and originally published as “Moment of Power” in 1968. In it, a man returns just before Christmas to an apartment where he once, years earlier, witnessed a murder. <\/p>\n

The third story, “The Boxdale Inheritance” (originally published in 1979 as “Great Aunt Allie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Flypapers”) features Chief Superintendent Dalgliesh being asked by a dear friend to look into a family murder that took place when he was a child and that has just resulted in his inheriting a decent estate of much-needed, but possibly tainted, money. <\/p>\n

The final story, “The Twelve Clues of Christmas,” is set earlier in Dalgliesh’s career, soon after making sergeant. In it, while driving to his own family’s Christmas celebration, he happens on a scene in which an eccentric uncle has been found dead, purportedly of suicide, but not to the young detective’s keen eye. He’ll have time to show off to a superior officer before he gets his Christmas dinner.<\/p>\n

All four stories are good of kind, but the ending of the first was enough of a surprise that I had to confirm with Rudi, who wasn’t driving, that I’d heard it correctly. And the second is really the best, worthy of inclusion in any compendium of twisty crime tales. It’s a short book, quickly read or listened to, and recommended for an evening or two’s enjoyment.<\/p>\n

I have four choices for my next holiday book and would love to hear if any of you have strong feelings:<\/p>\n