Sparetime Prime Crime

AS IF YOU didn't have enough to do this week—with lots of free time on your hands, right?—here are some of our favorite Christmas-related crime, mystery, and/or detective stories (and if the story links are dead, it's not our fault). If you are a long-time follower of this web-
log, you've probably read them already, so this one is basically for newbies:

 (1) Fred White's "A Christmas Capture" (HERE).

 (2) John D. MacDonald's "Dead on Christmas Street" (HERE), coupled with the non-Christmasy "Who's the Blonde?".

 (3) A review of Thomas Godfrey's still indispensable anthology, Murder for Christmas (HERE).  (Sorry, no online links to the stories.)

 (4) Ellery Queen's "The Scorpion's Thumb" (HERE).

 (5) Arnold Bennett's "The Christmas Eve Burglary" (HERE).

 (6) R. N. Wall's "Santa Up Against It" (HERE).

 (7) Edward W. Ludwig's "Slay Bells for Santa" (HERE).

 (8) Johnston McCulley's "Death Plays Santa Claus" (HERE).

 (9) Larry Holden's "Home for Christmas" (HERE).

 (10) Johnston McCulley's "Santa Thumbs a Ride" (HERE).

 (11) Rex Stout's "The Christmas-Party Murder" (HERE).

The bottom line:

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