"New" Release: Murder for Christmas

Originally published in 1949, Murder for Christmas by Francis Duncan was found in the archives at Vintage Books a few years back and not much was known about the author. Eventually, they discovered that it was the pen name for one William Underhill, a lecturer in economics and history. Sourcebooks is now publishing this book just in time for intrepid readers to unwrap a little murder with their holiday festivities.

The simple set-up is a traditional holiday party at the country house of wealthy bachelor Benedict Grame. He likes to play Santa and his guests range from best friend, Jeremy Rainer, and Jeremy's ward, Denys Arden, to various hangers-on and, not last or least, new acquaintance Mordecai Tremaine, amateur detective. Grame's secretary, Nicholas Blaise, sends Tremaine a note with his invitation saying that he thinks something is wrong with Grame and Tremaine can't resist a visit to Sherbroome House for Christmas. When a murder indeed occurs on Christmas Eve, Mordecai is the only one who can piece together the clues.

I know that this sounds like a pretty standard country house murder mystery but there is one big difference that I LOVED -- everyone is suspicious of Tremaine and close-lipped! They know he's an amateur detective, known publicly for solving a murder in Sussex the summer before. And many of them have something to hide and therefore do not want Tremaine snooping around and sussing things out. This is so different from many other amateur detectives who manage to collect tons of information from every spectator and suspect. It was refreshing to have Tremaine get the cold shoulder, to be lied to, and to be deliberately avoided. The mystery was also satisfying and I hope that more of Francis Duncan's books get reprinted in the US! (It looks like Vintage has started reprinting them in the UK.)

Sprinkling extra tinsel,
K

#AMonthofFaves : Dec. 15 - Favorite Holiday Festivities

Today we're moving away from books and into holiday discussions --

Tue. | Dec. 15 – Favorite Holiday Festivities – show off your favorite ornaments, home decor, place to go, holiday drinks, holiday eats, holiday themed reads

The holidays are pretty quiet around our house, here in the Seattle suburbs. About a week or two into December, we grab some Starbucks and head down to the local tree lot and pick out a lovely live tree. This year, we went for a tree that we could put more ornaments on rather than a fuller tree.

I promise that it looks better in person where you can see the ornaments more clearly! The only other decor we really do are old-fashioned colored lights on the outside of the house and a few things out on the mantlepiece. I used to do holiday towels and such around the house but nobody noticed but me so I kind of stopped doing it over time.

Our Christmas Eve tradition is to have chili. I make a yummy steak and black bean chili and cornbread! We read The Night Before Christmas and each open one present. Then Z heads to bed and I stay up and track Santa!

Christmas morning starts with a bowl of Lucky Charms before we open presents. Then we have a big brunch with many mimosas, usually followed by lovely, relaxing naps! Dinner is whatever I decide to make but it's rarely fully traditional. This year, I'm thinking beef filets with potatoes. It doesn't make sense to make a large turkey or ham when there's only four of us (my "baby" sis is usually up here with us every year for the holiday).

Other than the main holiday, we love to head to the zoo to see the beautiful WildLights, we get some sort of fancy dinner out for hubby's birthday, and, this year, we're heading to the Experience Music Project to see the big Hello Kitty exhibit (yes, this was planned by sis and me)! Sis and I always watch Christmas in Connecticut when she gets here and, time permitting, The Holiday, Love Actually, and The Man Who Came to Dinner. The whole family loves to watch Christmas Vacation and Elf. And hubby is one of those strange people that insist Die Hard is a holiday film.

Anyway, we're hoping for a white Christmas this year though we very rarely get one. Still, miracles sometimes happen!

What are your favorite holiday traditions?

Making a list,

K

New Releases: Penguin Christmas

If you're still looking for a stocking stuffer or two (or five), you can't go wrong with the new Penguin Christmas Classics series, featuring

A Merry Christmas & Other Christmas Stories by Louisa May Alcott

The Nutcracker by E.T.A. Hoffmann

The Night Before Christmas by Nikolai Gogol

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Christmas At Thompson Hall & Other Christmas Stories by Anthony Trollope

They have beautiful foil-stamped covers ...

and lovely inner artwork as well, all in petite books that will fit in a purse or jacket pocket. I read the Alcott stories last week and am rereading A Christmas Carol tonight. I'll read the others during the coming week and I know that they will set the perfect mood for a lovely Christmas Day.

Seasons readings,
K

A Week of Gift Ideas: For Anglophiles and Foodies

Everyone knows that a good cookbook can be a great gift and I've got two to recommend.

Jamie Oliver's Great Britain (strangely just Jamie's Great Britain in, well, Great Britain ... as if we in the colonies wouldn't recognize that cute, boyish face), is a book that I won from Tasha a few weeks ago. It's maybe less of a traditional cookbook and more of a celebration of British food but it's really fascinating! It's also a hefty hardcover which is obviously a great choice for a gift. There are a couple of recipes that I'm still going to attempt but mostly I've used it so far as a bit of eye candy and fuel for my raging anglophilia.

And a more seasonal choice is Delish: A Home-Baked Christmas. This is really a book for seasoned bakers, with recipes for stollen, panettone and christmas puddings. But if you have someone in your life that isn't afraid to make something spectacular and who happens to have access to candied fruits galore, why don't you give this to them and then reap the dessert rewards? Z has made me promise to try making the White Christmas Slice -- melted white chocolate, crisped rice cereal, raisins, coconut, dried apricots and glacé cherries made into a bark. It honestly sounds delicious.

In an eating mood all of a sudden,
K

Special Offer: Mrs. Claus Explains it All

Do you have an inquisitive little one (or more than one!) in your house?

Are you being bombarded with questions about Santa and his helpers?

Do you find yourself faced with questions that only one woman is qualified to answer?

Sourcebooks has a special promotion going right now on the e-book version of Mrs. Claus Explains it All by Elsbeth Claus and illustrated by David Wenzel. For only $1.99 you can have the answers handy to such questions as

• Why can't you see Santa's village at the North Pole?
• What is Santa's favorite cookie?
• I'm worried that Santa is too fat. Does he ever exercise?
• How does Santa know where I live? How does he keep track of what I want?

I was really happy to see that Santa and the elves like to spend time reading when they're not busy getting ready for Christmas. And, not surprisingly, the elves and I have some favorite books in common -- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz. I guess I could have been an elf in another timeline! Z was particularly interested to learn the history of the reindeer. This is a great "reference" book for believers of all ages and it's well worth the magical price.

Here are the links for iBooks and Nook versions:

Apple’s iBookstore
http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/mrs.-claus-explains-it-all/id485469062?mt=11

NOOK Book Store
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mrs-claus-explains-it-all-elsbeth-claus/1102174204

(Available on the following platforms: iPad, iPhone, iPodTouch, NOOK Tablet, NOOK Color, NOOK app for iPad)

In the know,

K and Z