This story is a classic representation of a proper British mystery. However, he gets more than his share of lover’s conflicts while staying at the country estate, including secret affairs, forbidden love and love triangles, all pointing to possible motives for murder. It’s Christmas, and love is in the air, starting with Tremaine's honest admission that he enjoys romantic fiction. With a house full of guests, all having exhibited odd behavior, or have clear and obvious motives, Tremaine has his work cut out for him. Sure enough, by Christmas morning a murder has taken place and Tremaine is commissioned by local law enforcement to help them solve the crime. He accepts the invitation with no small amount of eagerness, due to an almost prophetic assurance within his own mind that he might get a chance to use his newly acquired and highly praised detecting skills. Mordecai Tremaine has been invited to spend Christmas with at Benedict Grame’s country retreat. As it turns out, this is an excellent holiday mystery and is exactly the type of book I'd been looking for! I was intrigued, especially since I have no problem finding holiday romances, but struggle to find a Christmas mystery that isn’t a part of a very long running series.

This story is billed as a classic Christmas mystery, but in all honesty, I’d never heard of Francis Duncan or this book until about a month ago. (Originally published in 1949)Ī ‘Dickensian’ Christmas tradition gone horribly awry. Murder for Christmas by Francis Duncan is a 2015 Vintage Digital publication.