A Christmas Classic Crime perfect for the winter nights: Dramatic Murder by Elizabeth

Dramatic Murder by Elizabeth Anthony (British Library £9.99, 256pp)

Putting up the Christmas lights might be judged a risk-free occupation. But that is not how it turns out for the famous dramatist Dimpson McCabe who gets his wires crossed with fatal results.

At first assumed to be a tragic accident, it is only when recriminations among his holiday guests begin to surface that Inspector Smith decides further investigation is justified.

The setting for his inquiries is the West End theatre where the latest McCabe play is about to be premiered. 

With the stars of the show, the producer, McCabe’s agent and his secretary all at each other’s throats, it is not hard to identify suspects but less easy to pin the killing on one person.

Discovered after digging deep in the archives, Dramatic Murder is a sparkling treasure buried for over 70 years.

West End play makes a killing

The Last Séance by Agatha Christie (Harper Collins £14.99, 368pp)

Like turkey and plum pudding, Christmas and short stories go together. Why? I can only assume that feasting shortens the attention span.

Whatever the reason, this year brings a crop of classic crime anthologies. Heading the list is Agatha Christie’s tales of the supernatural.

Christie really is in a class of her own. Her talent, amounting to genius, is to grab the reader’s attention from the word go.

In this collection, gathered together for the first time in a single volume, the powers of darkness are more often imagined than real. 

But this in no way detracts from the sense of menace that pervades throughout. From prophetic dreams to fake hauntings, there is much here to delight the connoisseurs of crime.

Hemlock Bay by Martin Edwards (Head of Zeus £22, 384pp)

Martin Edwards leads a double life. A distinguished editor of classic crime reissues, he is also the author of whodunits in the classic mould. And very good at it he is too.

His protagonist in the cause of justice is Rachel Savernake, an independently wealthy and, when occasion demands, flirtatious young lady, aided by a crime reporter sniffing for a scoop.

What draws them to Hemlock Bay, a coastal haven for the idle rich, is a fortune teller who claims to have foreseen a murder. 

There is indeed a murder, though the victim is the fortune teller himself, bludgeoned to death with his own crystal ball.

From this point the teasers pile up as Rachel delves behind a gilded facade to expose cruelty and corruption.