Murder on a Winter's Night - edited by Cecily Gayford

It's 12th night, I've finally started my Christmas, now rechristened as twelfth, cake and am cheerfully reading murder mysteries. The Profile published Christmas collection has been a staple stocking gift (still do them, never intend to stop) for the last few years now, and whilst they're always decent, I have sometimes found the quality variable.

Not so with this year's offering, 'Murder on a Winter's Night' is my idea of the perfect anthology. It's anchored by an almost novella-length Dorothy L Sayer's story (The Undignified Melodrama of the Bone of Contention) which I only remembered reading before about two-thirds of the way through, and even then couldn't remember the details, so it felt new and after that, there's an excellent mix of short and medium-length offerings. 

There's a good balance between stories that are amusing to the point of funny with a couple that remind you that murder isn't a joke (never a bad thing) and a nearly contemporary entry to balance all the classic crime. I even like that it's called 'Murder in a Winter's Night' so that I'm not left feeling like I'm clinging to the old year now that January is well underway. 

Basically, I enjoyed everything about this particularly well curated collection, it's definitely one to look out for if you enjoy classic crime. I don't want to give spoilers for particular stories, but it would be just the thing to have to hand if the threatened snow turns up this weekend.