Malfeasance and Mistletoe

I’ve had some trouble feeling the Christmas spirit this year. Maybe it’s because I am still getting over the loss of my dear cat, Monkey. Or because my mother-in-law passed away a few months ago, and my wife continues to work through her grief around that. Or because I’m having trouble coping with the potentially disastrous fact that Americans elected a bullying bigot, misogynist, and sex predator (not exactly a role model for youngsters) as their next president. Whatever the reason, it has been hard for me to find the joy and smiles I usually share at this time of year. I’ve tried loading my CD player up with Christmas music and whittling down my list of presents to be purchased, but so far without satisfactory result.

Maybe the answer is to bury myself in Yuletide-associated crime fiction and try to block out the world for a while. If so, Mystery Fanfare’s compilation of Christmas mystery titles will come in very handy. Blogger Janet Rudolph has broken her list down into five parts: Authors A-D,  Authors E-H,  Authors I-N, Authors O-R, and Authors S-Z. Clearly, crime writers see great potential in linking homicide and the holidays. Any family that has had to arrange Christmas parties around complicated guest schedules or endure the conflicting demands of divorced parents during this season might understand that quite well.