The ChRIstMas sEason

kw: book reviews, crime fiction, short stories, anthologies, christmas

It seems there is a book series for everything. For those who like to read a lot of crime fiction, I find the Soho Crime Series. The volume that caught my eye is titled The Usual Santas (no editor[s] named), and the title is that of a story within by Mick Herron.

The title story is perhaps the most memorable. Eight mall Santas have finished their service for the night, and gather together as is their wont for a bit of complimentary grub before going home. Also, as is their habit, they do not change out of their Santa costumes, preferring to not know who their compatriots are, though they have met this way, season after season, for many years. But they find a ninth Santa among them. They discuss how to determine who the "newcomer" might be. You didn't think I would tell you more than that, did you?

The eighteen stories are in three sets, lighthearted, dark, and warmhearted (each in its own twisted way). They are set all over the world, in all imaginable cultures among those that have adopted, at least in a mercantile way, the Christmas season. A Hindu street urchin with a flair for drawing ponders how to depict her close friend. POW's in North Korea (set in 1953) try to cobble together some kind of seasonal cheer. Jane Austen ponders the loss of a dowager's diamond necklace. As one might imagine, one fellow's mischief is another's mayhem.

Fun stories to read. I seldom read crime, but a collection of this quality, I'll make an exception for.