James Patterson’s BookShots. Short, fast-paced, high-impact entertainment. Two priceless paintings disappear from a Park Avenue murder scene – French detective Luc Moncrief is in for a not-so-merry Christmas.
The Edgar Award-winning editor collects sixty of his all-time favorite holiday crime stories—from Arthur Conan Doyle and Thomas Hardy, to Sara Paretsky and Ed McBain. • “Anyone who cares about the best mystery writing of the past century and beyond would be lucky to receive this thick volume during the holidays." —The Washington Post This collection touches on all aspects of the holiday season, and all types of mysteries. They are suspenseful, funny, frightening, and poignant. Included are puzzles by Mary Higgins Clark, Isaac Asimov, and Ngaio Marsh; uncanny tales in the tradition of A Christmas Carol by Peter Lovesey and Max Allan Collins; O. Henry-like stories by Stanley Ellin and Joseph Shearing, stories by pulp icons John D. MacDonald and Damon Runyon; comic gems from Donald E. Westlake and John Mortimer; and many, many more. Almost any kind of mystery you’re in the mood for--suspense, pure detection, humor, cozy, private eye, or police procedural—can be found in these pages. FEATURING: - Unscrupulous Santas - Crimes of Christmases Past and Present - Festive felonies - Deadly puddings - Misdemeanors under the mistletoe - Christmas cases for classic characters including Sherlock Holmes, Brother Cadfael, Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, Ellery Queen, Rumpole of the Bailey, Inspector Morse, Inspector Ghote, A.J. Raffles, and Nero Wolfe.
Maurice Sendak's Christmas Mystery comes in an elegant gift box, festively decorated with Sendak art. Inside, you will find a charming little picture book, chockablock with visual clues to help you solve the mystery. You'll also find a jigsaw puzzle with 50 jumbo pieces. Put the puzzle together and the surprise solution to Sendak's merry Christmas mystery will be revealed in all its glory.
It's almost time for the Little Hedgehog's Christmas party--but someone has taken ALL of the berries and pine cones in the woods that the friends were planning to use for decorations! Can Little Hedgehog and his friends figure out who it is? It's almost time for Little Hedgehog's Christmas party, and Little Hedgehog waits patiently for his friends to come over with the decorations. But when they get to his house, they're very upset! Someone has taken ALL of the holly berries and ALL of the pine cones in the woods, and now, there is nothing to decorate Little Hedgehog's house with. So the friends set out to see if they can figure out what's going on. Along the way, they find some very BIG footprints. Who could they belong to? Little Hedgehog and the other woodland animals are the best of friends! Their exciting adventures take them to different places in the forest and center around friendship, teamwork, determination, and gratitude. Each of the books in the Little Hedgehog & Friends series promotes being helpful, building a sense of community among friends and neighbors, and learning how to be a leader with a can-do attitude while working together to solve problems.
A handsome and charming French detective joined the NYPD for a fresh start, but someone wants to end his first big case . . . and his life. Welcome to New York, Detective. Now watch your back. BookShots Lightning-fast stories by James Patterson Novels you can devour in a few hours Impossible to stop reading All original content from James Patterson
"The Gift of the Magi" is a short story by O. Henry first published in 1905. The story tells of a young husband and wife and how they deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very little money. As a sentimental story with a moral lesson about gift-giving, it has been popular for adaptation, especially for presentation at Christmas time.
When Holly White’s fiancé cancels their Christmas Eve wedding with less than two weeks to go, Holly heads home with a broken heart. Lucky for her, home in historic Mistletoe, Maine is magical during Christmastime—exactly what the doctor prescribed. Except her plan to drown her troubles in peppermints and snickerdoodles is upended when local grouch and president of the Mistletoe Historical Society Margaret Fenwick is bludgeoned and left in the sleigh display at Reindeer Games, Holly’s family tree farm. When the murder weapon is revealed as one of the wooden stakes used to identify trees on the farm, Sheriff Evan Grey turns to Holly’s father, Bud, and the Reindeer Games staff. And it doesn’t help that Bud and the reindeer keeper were each seen arguing with Margaret just before her death. But Holly knows her father, and is determined to exonerate him.The jingle bells are ringing, the clock is ticking, and if Holly doesn't watch out, she'll end up on Santa's naughty list in Twelve Slays of Christmas, Jacqueline Frost’s jolly series debut.
Every day can be Christmas. After the unexpected death of her husband, Joanne Huist Smith had no idea how she would keep herself together and be strong for her three children - especially with the holidays approaching. The cheerfulness of the season made her feel more alone than ever, no matter how much she wanted to reach out to her children and find some way to comfort them. But thirteen days before Christmas, a poinsettia appeared on the Smiths' doorstep. The next day, another gift arrived … then another, and another. Each present was accompanied by a note with lyrics to the carol ''The Twelve Days of Christmas'' rewritten to fit the gift and and signed, ''Your true friends.'' Although Jo resisted the intrusion at first, the gifts began to work a kind of magic on her and the kids. As they puzzled over the mystery together - who were the true friends? when would the next delivery arrive? could anyone catch the gift givers in the act? - their grieving hearts began to heal. The 13th Gift is a true story about the everyday miracles that can occur during the holiday season. It is a heartwarming reminder that with love, community, and family, even the most broken of hearts can be mended.
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Deep End of the Ocean comes this heartwarming Christmas story of a family who comes together during the holiday season as they learn a powerful lesson about love and to live each year of their lives as if it were their last. A fourteenth wedding anniversary is nothing to sneeze at, Elliott Banner knows, but it's not exactly a landmark year—like fifteen, or twenty, when he plans to take his wife, Laura, to Paris. But when a headache on the drive home from their anniversary date—two days before Christmas—turns out to be more than a migraine, he wishes he had celebrated every year as though it were their last. In this poignant, touching, uplifting story, a woman calmly gathers her family around her during the Christmas holiday to celebrate their lives together—both past and future—and to truly count their blessings. A family history unfolds in a single night in this deeply affecting story that speaks volumes about love, trust, and letting go—a perfect holiday read that underscores the true meaning of the season. “Mitchard’s gift is her ability to present her characters in a compassionate light, even when revealing them at their weakest moments.”—Us Weekly