THEChristmas is the time of the year when cities light up, but it is also the period in which emotions explode with intensity equal to a powerful explosive. It is not surprising, therefore, if in the period of lights, gifts and decorated houses, in which we are all called to be happy, someone is not happy, indeed, they imagine a murder to break the idyllic atmosphere.
Because, after all, the dark part that dwells in us never goes on holiday and behind the apparent serenity of the holidays, at the laid table on Christmas Eve, together with delicious foods and diners only the best feelings are not always accommodated.
The Christmas mystery is a highly appreciated genre, because it combines the reassuring warmth of the holidays with the dark sides of the human soul, in a game of oxymorons that makes the hunt for the killer even more intriguing.
The genre has its roots in the suffused atmospheres of the British Golden Age, when cups of hot tea were accompanied by lethal intrigues and festive melodies accompanied the investigation of a murder. Over the years, this genre has evolved and expanded: the classic tales set among aristocrats and imposing homes have been joined by metropolitan noirs, American hard-boiled films and psychological thrillers, who find a powerful trick on Christmas Day.
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The protagonists, called to come to terms with who they really are, invite us to discover how little is enough for a night of peace to transform into an intricate enigma. Perfect to read in the flickering light of the tree, these 6 detective stories set at Christmas are for those who love mystery and want to discover how much truth there is in the motto “at Christmas we are all better”.
The latest mystery by Reverend Coles, the former musician of the iconic duo “The Communards”, is set at Christmas. In the snowy setting of the village of St Mary Champton, the Reverend Daniel Clement, an Anglican parish priest and a man of a meditative nature, hosted a festive lunch for friends and family in the home he shares with his mother. Among the guests are Jane Cabot, an elegant and narcissistic aristocrat, and her husband Victor, a taciturn and mysterious man of Jewish origins which he prefers to keep hidden. Everything seems to be taking place as usual until, during a game of mimed charades, Victor suddenly collapses to the ground, clutching his throat, and dies. A heinous crime may have been perpetrated in the town of Champton and Daniel, together with detective sergeant Neil Vanloo, will have to shed light on what happened and unmask the Christmas Day killer.
Rev. Richards Coles, Murder Under the Mistletoe, Einaudi Stile Libero
Agatha Christie, Poirot’s Christmas, Mondadori
Christmas is that time of year when families put aside grudges and gather to celebrate, but rivalries and hatred continue to fester. It also happens during the family reunion wanted by the old man and Simeon Lee, a patriarch hated by everyone. Simon has gathered his children and grandchildren around him, but what was supposed to be a Christmas gathering for charity turns into drama when the old man is murdered in a room locked from the inside. Who was it? Is the killer a family member? And where is the killer now? Everyone is suspect, everyone has a reason to want his death. A great classic of Agatha Christie’s production full of mystery and suspense.
Agatha Christie, Poirot’s Christmas, Mondadori
Maurizio De Giovanni, By my hand. Commissioner Ricciardi’s Christmas, Einaudi
Christmas 1931. While Naples celebrates the holidays under the facade of order imposed by fascism, the city is crossed by poverty and social tensions. In an elegant apartment in Mergellina, the bodies of Emanuele Garofalo, an officer of the Militia, and his wife Costanza are discovered: she was killed with a single cut to the throat, he was massacred in bed by dozens of stab wounds. Their little girl is saved only because she is at school. On the floor, a destroyed statue of St. Joseph seems like a silent omen. Inspector Ricciardi, tormented by the gift of hearing the last voices of the dead, finds no immediate answers in their whispers and must chase the truth through the alleys and contrasts of Naples. With him is Brigadier Maione, a trusted but complex ally, while new emotions break the commissioner’s soul.
Maurizio De Giovanni, By my hand. Commissioner Ricciardi’s Christmas, Einaudi
Benjamin Stevenson, Everyone has secrets at Christmas, Feltrinelli
Ernest Cunningham is a fan of Golden Age detective stories, until life forces him to become an expert in the field. At Christmas, the period in which the world should slow down with lights, gifts and good feelings, someone decides to kill instead. Backstage at the famous illusionist Rylan Blaze’s show, a man is murdered in impossible circumstances: without anyone appearing to have entered the murder room. A perfect murder, or so it seems. Around Cunningham moves a company of suspects who have made deception a profession: a magician, a disguise expert, a hypnotist, a twin, a psychologist, a financial manager and a lighting and special effects technician. All masters in the art of confusing, distracting, lying. The clues are few and ambiguous: a desperate message, an Advent calendar and a truth that hides behind magic tricks and well-orchestrated illusions. To solve the case, Cunningham will have to learn to look beyond what appears, because a well-planned murder is not so different from a great magic trick: it only works as long as no one reveals the secret.
Benjamin Stevenson, Everyone has secrets at Christmas, Feltrinelli
George Simenon, Maigret’s Christmas, Adelphi
In the story that gives the volume its title, Georges Simenon gives readers a new and surprising Maigret. It’s Christmas night and the commissioner, struggling with a flu that keeps him bedridden, seems destined to remain on the sidelines of the action. And instead, almost without leaving home, he manages to solve a complex case, relying on intuition, listening and that profound attention to the human soul that distinguishes him. Next to him, in a role that is anything but marginal, is his wife, a discreet but fundamental presence, who contributes to the resolution of the enigma with sensitivity and intelligence. The atmosphere is typical of Simenon: a small-bourgeois environment that is only apparently peaceful, crossed by underground tensions, desires for social redemption and desires for enrichment that end up generating crimes.
Georges Simenon, Maigret’s Christmas and other stories, Adelphi
Various authors, A Christmas in Yellow, Sellerio
Petra and Fermín, Enzo Baiamonte, Primo said Terzo, Amedeo Consonni, Massimo and the old men of BarLume, Martin Bora and Lorenzo La Marca: they are some of the most beloved investigators of our fiction. Different in temperament and lifestyle, dynamic or indolent, sentimental or disenchanted, solitary or immersed in a noisy community but united by a clear gaze on the world and its shadows. And like everyone, sooner or later, they too find themselves having to deal with Christmas which, as we know, is an anniversary full of meanings, expectations and contradictions: a suspended time that can amplify loneliness or make company suffocating, awaken memories or create new silences. For an investigator it is a particular test, perhaps harder than an investigation: because it is the moment in which, once the cases have been closed and the spotlight on the action has been turned off, only the man or woman behind the profession remains. And it is precisely there that it becomes interesting to observe what happens afterwards, when the detective adventure is over and the confrontation with oneself, with loved ones and with absences remains.