Basic Information : Synopsis : Expectations : Thoughts : Evaluation : Book Group : New Words : Good Quotes : Table of Contents : References
Basic Information:
Author:
Anthology
Edition:
ePub on Overdrive from the San Francisco Public Library
Publisher:
Soho Crime
ISBN:
161695776X (ISBN13: 9781616957766)
Start
Date: November 18, 2019
Read
Date: November 27, 2019
356
pages
Genre:
Fiction, Short Stories, Mystery
Language
Warning: Low to Medium
Rated
Overall: 2 out of 5
Fiction-Tells
a good story: 2 out of 5
Synopsis (Caution: Spoiler Alert-Jump to Thoughts):
This
is a collection of short stories written by several authors. The
theme is crime at Christmas time.
Expectations:
- Recommendation: Laura through my book group
- When: September 2019
- Date Became Aware of Book: September 2019
- How come do I want to read this book: My book group’s pick for a December read
- What do I think I will get out of it? Fun mystery stories
Thoughts:
A
significant number of the short stories are not worth reading. Those
which are worth reading, I am marking with an asterisk (*).
Joy
to the world: Various acts of kindness at Christmas.
An
elderly lady seeks peace at Christmastime by Helene Tursten
An
elderly lady seeks to rectify a situation in an apartment above hers,
but definitely not through very ethical means.
*The
usual Santas by Mick Herron
Eight
Santas work at a super mall in England. But at the end of season
party, nine identical Santas show up. The next morning, several shops
have been robbed.
A
bit satirical on the holidays being a retail experience. Also talks
about how everything is validated by merchandise profiling.
*PX
Christmas by Martin Limon
A
couple of investigators in South Korea after the Vietnam war, end up
befriending the husband of a Korean wife who was arrested for
blackmarketiering. To make money to support her family, she starts to
work at a mobster night club and gets trapped. The investigators form
a plan to escape her out of that life and free her family.
Chalee's
Nativity by Timothy Hallinan
An
orphan child discovers meaning by drawing. But then discovers that
drawing is not a end to itself, but a means to give joy to others.
What
should something be pictured as? Photographed as? Something which is
“realistic” or something which is representative?
*The
Cuban Marquise's jewels by Teresa Dovalpage
Interesting.
A short story told in seven parts A PI is commissioned to retrieve
family heirlooms (jewels) from her former house. But the PI starts to
think that things do not add up. The author does a good job of
developing the story.
A
mother's curse by Mette Ivie Harrison
A
Mormon family is getting ready for their son’s mission trip. But
the thief is a respectable person in the Mormon community who is too
proud to receive from the church. The son who is going on mission
finds a way to provide charity without it being charity. The curse?
That will not be given away, but it is anti-climatic.
Silent
night: The darkest of holiday noir.
There's
only one Father Christmas, right? by Colin Cotterill
Takes
place in Thailand, A robber pretends to be Father Christmas and makes
a bold get away, pinning the robbery on a store Father Christmas. But
his motives are altruistic. In the end, he does not succeed. The
ending is a bit of a let down.
Martin
by Ed Lin
A
game of Trust or Dare leads into confession of murder and self introspection.
Queen
of the hill by Stuart Neville
Think
Kill Bill
meets Christmas. That is the type of short story this is. May be OK
if you are into blood and gore.
Blue
memories start calling by Tod Goldberg
An
old sheriff meets a gruesome kill and learns compassion. He then
realizes truth is sacrificed and quits his job. When do we get used
to the gruel some? The unsightly? Evil? The answer is we should never.
On the other hand, some people’s jobs deal with that day in and day
out.
Bo
Sau (Vengeance) by Henry Chang
A
cousin works out his vengeance on a hit man.
*Red
Christmas by James R. Benn
A
former prisoner of war remembers a Christmas where he discovered a
traitor and what he did about it.
I
saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus: and other holiday secrets.
When
the time came by Lene Kaaberb & Agnete Friis
A
liberation of plumbing and sink material meets up with an immigrant
woman who is about to give birth. The buildings are deserted, except
for her. The thieves are skittish about getting involved, but the
head honcho knows a nurse who works
with refugees and gets her involved. But then someone unexpectedly
drops in.
*Hairpin
holiday by Sujata Massey
A
woman comes in spouting truth from a book. There is a public
gathering to hear her. But a blackout occurs and the book is stolen.
But is it? Our lady lawyer is curious about a series of events.
Can
something be bigger than truth itself? In this case, what was being
hidden was the fact that a personality had been caught up in the
success of a fraudulent book and then the book could not be revealed.
But people thought there was a great deal of wisdom in the book.
The
prince (of peace) by Gary Corby
Machiavelli
is forced to choose between two people to rule over a city and
consequently Machiavelli’s own hometown may be in danger. How does
he choose?
Christmas
a necessary evil???
The
author puts pseudo words into Machiavelli’s mouth to make it sound
like the author of The
Prince.
Somewhat effective, but also confusing. Somebody will think this is
Machiavelli really talking.
Cabaret
aux assassins by Cara Black
A
Sherlock Holmes story without the elegance of it. A woman gets the
better of Holmes, and they are working towards the same goals.
Jane
and the midnight clear by Stephanie Barron
A
Jane Austen story where diamonds are stolen at a dinner party. But
are they?
*Supper
with Miss Shivers by Peter Lovesey.
Interesting
take when the family story is based upon a misconception of a father
dies with a mistress on a train crash. The mother is in the hospital
giving birth to a daughter. But was she really his mistress? A mysterious person invites the daughter to a dinner date where the
secret is revealed.
Evaluation:
Usual
Santas is a series of short
stories. Some of the stories are well written and engaging. But many
of the stories seem pretty flat, obvious, or seemingly slapped
together to meet a deadline. I
am left with the impression there must be a better set of
Christmas-mystery short stories.
Notes from my book group:
Which
story was your favorite and why? Which one(s) did you not like? Why?
What drew you to the ones you liked?
When
reading a short story, how do you read it? What qualities does should
it have?
After
reading these stories, does a Chritmas theme with mystery seem
appriopriate?
Many
of these questions are either from or adapted from LitLovers.
- Why the title of Usual Santas?
- Does this book work as a collection of short stories??
- Do the stories fitting together? Are they satisfying? Predictable?
- Which story was the most convincing? Least?
- Which story did you identify with?
- Which one did you dislike?
- Every story has a world view. Were you able to identify with any of the stories world view? What was it? How did it affect the story?
- In what context was religion talked about in these stories?
- Was there anybody you would consider religious?
- How did they show it?
- Was the book overtly religious?
- How did it affect the books story?
- Why do you think the publisher published this book?
- What “take aways” did you have from this book?
- How did this book affect your view of the world?
- Of how God is viewed?
- What questions did you ask yourself after reading this book?
- Talk about specific passages that struck you as significant—or interesting, profound, amusing, illuminating, disturbing, sad...?
- What was memorable?
New Words:
- Charcuterie: the art of preparing and assembling cured meats and other meat products. But, many people use the term charcuterie to refer to an assortment of meats that are paired with different accompaniments, such as toast, fruit, cheese, and sauces.
- Farang: caucasians, but may refer to American’s inThai
- Santeria: a pantheistic Afro-Cuban religious cult developed from the beliefs and customs of the Yoruba people and incorporating some elements of the Catholic religion
- mamlocha: Crazy Mama
- pichidulce: smart sugar???
Good Quotes:
- First Line: The churchyard was silent and peaceful so early on the morning of Christmas eve.
- Last Line: This is a wonderful Christmas present.
- Foreword by Peter Lovesey
- Joy to the world: Various acts of kindness at Christmas.
- An elderly lady seeks peace at Christmastime by Helene Tursten
- The usual Santas by Mick Herron
- PX Christmas by Martin Limon
- Chalee's Nativity by Timothy Hallinan
- The Cuban Marquise's jewels by Teresa Dovalpage
- A mother's curse by Mette Ivie Harrison
- Silent night: The darkest of holiday noir.
- There's only one Father Christmas, right? by Colin Cotterill
- Martin by Ed Lin
- Queen of the hill by Stuart Neville
- Blue memories start calling by Tod Goldberg
- Bo Sau (Vengence) by Henry Chang
- Red Christmas by James R. Benn
- I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus: and other holiday secrets.
- When the time came by Lene Kaaberb & Agnete Friis
- Hairpin holiday by Sujata Massey
- The prince (of peace) by Gary Corby
- Cabaret aux assassins by Cara Black
- Jane and the midnight clear by Stephanie Barron
- Supper with Miss Shivers by Peter Lovesey.
References:
