For the past dozen days, I've been offering suggestions of books you might consider as "stocking stuffer" gifts for friends who read mysteries, or, better yet, for friends who have never read a classic mystery and may not know what they are missing. In keeping with the holiday spirit, I call these suggestions "The Twelve Days of Bookgiving." All are readily available, many in a variety of formats. Most have print editions that can be provided to you by your favorite mystery book seller or other independent bookstore. If not, there's always Amazon.
These are the twelve books (links will take you to the relevant post from the past several days):
- The Complete Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle;
- And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie;
- He Who Whispers, by John Dickson Carr;
- The Doorbell Rang, by Rex Stout;
- Flowers for the Judge, by Margery Allingham;
- The Book of the Dead, by Elizabeth Daly;
- The Poisoned Chocolates Case, by Anthony Berkeley;
- The Moving Toy Shop, by Edmund Crispin;
- The Chinese Lake Murders, by Robert Van Gulik;
- Man of Two Tribes, by Arthur Upfield;
- Lament for a Maker, by Michael Innes;
- The Maltese Falcon, by Dashiell Hammett
The friends who receive your gifts will, I'm sure, be grateful, and they will undoubtedly recognize your good taste and discernment. For that matter, if there are books on this list which you haven't read...well, what are you waiting for! In any case, have a wonderful Chanukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice - whatever you prefer to observe. And may it be pleasantly mysterious.
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