To This Great Stage of Fools: Born December 1st

A great compilation of information about Nero Wolfe, Archie Goodwin, and creator of both, Rex Stout.

Rex Stout, b. 1886. Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin are two of my very favorite fictional detectives.

Anyone in the mood for some Christmas mysteries? The following list of Christmas mystery novels is mostly taken from the book Murder Ink; I’ve not read all of them, but I have tried most of these authors. If you read one this Christmas, let me know how you liked it.

Agatha Christie: Murder for Christmas (Holiday for Murder)
Mary Higgins Clark: Silent Night
Charles Dickens: The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Martha Grimes: Jerusalem Inn
Georgette Heyer: Envious Casca
Michael Innes: A Comedy of Terrors
M.M. Kaye: Death in the Andamans
Ngaio Marsh: Tied Up in Tinsel
Elis Peters: A Rare Benedictine
Ellery Queen: The Finishing Stroke
Dell Shannon: No Holiday for Crime
Peter Tremayne: The Haunted Abbot

As for Rex Stout, his only Christmas contribution is a short story called “Christmas Party” featuring Nero Wolfe dressed up as Santa Claus. If the costume seems a bit out of character for Wolfe, he does have a good cause–he’s concerned about Archie Goodwin’s impending wedding! This story is one of four in the book And Four To Go.

3 thoughts on “To This Great Stage of Fools: Born December 1st

  1. You forgot Ellis Peters’ The Virgin in the Ice. I really think that’s my favorite of hers. And it’s very Christmasy.

  2. Anne Perry has an excellent Victorian Christmas mystery series. The first one is A Christmas Journey–superb!!

  3. Ah, Ellis Peters and Anne Perry are two of my favorites. I will have to check out A Christmas Journey; I thoroughly enjoy the Cadfael one.

    Thanks for the recommendations. Mysteries are my frequent nighttime reading; I’ll let you know if I find a fav. in this list.

    Diane

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *