Secrets in the Snow – Old Paper & Cats, Reviews by S. Hargrave

It’s Christmas Time!

All of the preparations have finally come to fruition and it’s Christmas time! There are still so many errands to finish, but there’s something magical when the big day is just around the corner, and the last-minute scramble starts. I don’t leave my shopping this late, but there’s always something you forget and have to rush out to acquire. We’re still dealing with a lot of snow here, and that is helping us slow down. But I could do with a little less shovelling and slippery roads.

A calico tabby sits beside a small, blue hardcover book with a snowy lane on the cover.

A Time for Ghost Stories

Christmas is traditionally the perfect time for ghost stories, and some seasonal spooky content, so I was happy to come across a little volume of exactly that. Macmillan Collector’s Library has put out some amazing selections of classic stories in the past year and Secrets in the Snow and Other Christmas Crime Stories is no exception. Matthew Booth has put together a nice mix of tales from EW Hornung to Ethel Lina White, from the Victorian Era to the mid-century and beyond. This is the perfect gift for someone on your list that loves a good crime story or ghost story but is not one for too much violence, or for someone who has a penchant for old favourites and forgotten gems.

A calico tabby sits beside a miniature tree and a copy of Secrets in the Snow & Other Christmas Crime Stories.

A Mix of Crime

I’m emphasizing the ghost stories, because even the crime stories in this collection mostly have a ghostly bent. I happen to prefer this, especially in a holiday collection. That being said, if you’re looking for more hardboiled murder-mysteries, this might not be the right choice for you. There are plenty of amateur detectives to enjoy, though — including an Arthur Conan Doyle (and, no, it’s not ‘The Blue Carbuncle’). And one of the best things about this collection is that it lends itself to further reading for someone who wants to dive deeper into classic crime fiction and just classic fiction in general.

A calico cat sits with narrowed eyes beside Secrets in the Snow and a miniature Christmas tree.

Quiet Nostalgia

I do love stories about Christmas visits at country estates. The lush surroundings, the countryside, the skating parties, the stories by the hearth. Collections like these are a window into traditions and festivities that still have echoes in modernity but have mostly faded into distant times and places. It’s like nostalgia for a time that I’ve never actually lived through except in the words of my favourite stories.

My favourite stories in this collection include Carter Dickson’s ‘Blind Man’s Hood’, the story of a murder and a ghost seeking justice, and Dorothy L Sayers’ ‘The Necklace of Pearls’, a classic whodunnit that takes place in the midst of some Christmas revels.

On the back of Secrets in the Snow is a lit window seen through a snowstorm and the quote, "I took the gold. No one will ever find us. I leave you a Christmas present."

Happy Holidays to All!

Happy Holidays to everyone! I hope your week is full of good things and a good amount of rest as well. I wish everyone all of the best that the season has to offer! I know I’m excited to find all of the new books that I know will be under the tree for me — but that brings me to the problem of seriously considering a limit on new book purchases for the sake of our floor space and our overstuffed library. However, that’s definitely a problem for the New Year.