What is it about Christmas that makes people so particularly bloodthirsty? Is it all the extra relatives in the house (unless it’s 2020, of course)? The intimidating spikes on the ends of a mistletoe leaf? The inhibition-destroying effects of boozy eggnog? The bloody sheen of holly berries on death-pale snow? Okay, I’m creeping myself out now, so I’ll stop. But Christmas is undeniably fertile ground for mystery writers from the Queen of Crime, Dame Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot’s Christmas) to lesser-known Golden Age mystery writers (like the contributors to British Library Crime Classics’ Silent Nights and Crimson Snow collections) and modern-day writers like Alan Bradley (I am Half Sick of Shadows). Whatever it is about Christmas, there seems to be plenty of shadow under those twinkle lights.

Any Golden Age crime reader these days is familiar with the British Library Crime Classics series – which is growing too fast for me to keep up with these days. The Santa Klaus Murder, by Mavis Doriel Hay, is a particularly fun entry, especially at this time of year. An unpopular, but rich, old gentleman is found murdered in his library, by a guest dressed as Father Christmas, and things only get weirder from there. There are a few obvious twists, one of which is revealed on the back cover (why???) but it’s good fun. You’ll never look at a Santa costume the same way again.

Another country-house-at-Christmas murder mystery, Georgette Heyer’s A Christmas Party is fun and frothy – or at least, as fun and frothy as a crime novel can be. All of the classic holiday-themed Christmas mystery tropes are here: a snowstorm that isolates all of the possible suspects in a house together; several red herrings; lots of family secrets. Good stuff all around.

For a more modern take on the Christmas murder mystery, look no further than Louise Penny, who contributes A Fatal Grace – the second installment in her popular Armand Gamache series. It’s an interesting twist on the locked room trope: CC de Poitiers, the unpopular murder victim – query: is the murder victim ever not unpopular? – is electrocuted in the middle of a frozen lake, during a curling competition as the entire village looks on. I guessed the identity of the killer fairly quickly, but while the who was obvious, only Chief Inspector Gamache can figure out the how. Also, crossing curling off my list of sports to try.

Does Christmas make you bloodthirsty? Any holiday-themed murder mystery recommendations for me?