Death Comes at Christmas edited by Marie O'Regan

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Titan Books in exchange for an honest review.

I haven't always had the best luck with anthologies but I am pleased to report that Death Comes at Christmas is nothing but a good time. This is a delightful mix of short stories focused on crime at Christmas time, taking place over a wide range of time periods and settings. There was a good amount of variety and surprisingly for an anthology, there were no stories I disliked particularly.

Some of my favourites were:

• How to Commit Murder in a Bookshop-A bookshop event turns sinister
• The Red Angel-A true crime podcaster crashes in the snow and ends up at a creepy house with his girlfriend
• Christmas Lights-A surprisingly touching story of grief with a somewhat sinister tone
• The Naughty List-Vigilante justice turns festive

All in all, this is a great festive read and a welcome addition to the world of Christmas thrillers. If you want something to dip in and out of on Christmas day where the stories are all of comparable quality, then this is definitely worth checking out

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The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett

 I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Serpent's Tail / Viper / Profile Books in exchange for an honest review.

I am a huge fan of The Appeal and I think it's a book which stands up on a reread, so I was pretty excited when I heard about a sequel coming out. The Christmas Appeal continues the antics of the Fairway Players as they put on a production of Jack and the Beanstalk at Christmas time. As with the first, this book is told entirely through emails, texts and other forms of communication.

For full disclosure, I have actually read this book twice now and my opinion on it has changed slightly. The first time I read it, I was incredibly disappointed. While this book mimics many of the qualities of the first one, it lacks any real ingenuity to the murder case. There is little opportunity to solve anything and no real additional elements once the incident is revealed, which for me is the main appeal of the first one. The whole thing just falls a little flat and doesn't seem to add much as a result.

Having said that, I reread this book this Christmas and I had a bit of a better time. I still stand by the opinions above but I was able to see a bit more of the fun in it, and it certainly fills a good role as a book to read around Christmas which doesn't require too much attention. The characters are enjoyable, it's very readable and it has a decent enough atmosphere.

Overall, I think this book is worth checking out but perhaps lower your expectations if you're a big fan of the first one. Whether it's due to the shorter length or just the 'Christmas tone', this book isn't a great example of the murder mystery genre but it can be a lot of fun and is certainly better than some other Christmas-themed thrillers I've read.

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