Some of the stories are a little obscure, but I really enjoyed The Chopham Affair, The Adventure of the Abbey Grange and The Mystery of Felwyn Tunnel. I would have like a little biographical section about each author and some mention as to why each story was chosen. T. Meade and Robert Eustace - a very good story in which murder is suspected near a train tunnel in winter but the solution is completely natural.

I liked the vast majority of this collection and there are some authors in here that I will definitely read from again.Outstanding is The Chopham Affair by Edgar Wallace, in which a smooth-talking conman finally picks the wrong mark. The Chesterton was a bit boring and since most of the action was set in South America, seemed a weird inclusion. I'll just repeat what I said from that review: in which a fall from a roof in November turns out to be more sinister than originally thought. Sadly, a couple are more meandering, as told by one colourful character from the past to another equally colourful character from the past, without ever creating much sense of mystery or suspense. Some of the stories are also in other collections - I really like The Mystery of Felwyn Tunnel by L.

There is no information given about the authors or the background to the stories, and some authors are better known than others, e. I felt they passed the time nicely, but apart from the Conan Doyle and the Chesterton, I found them tidy but rather workaday.Whilst there are now much fewer instances of stories set at Christmas, all the stories are set in the cold or snowy winter months. Following the workings of the great mind of Sherlock Holmes is always enjoyable, and here we have The Adventure of Abbey Grange, a satisfactory case that allows Holmes to display his superiority and magnanimity, and Dr Watson his common sense and general dullness. Though there are 2 - 3 stories that were genuinely fun and exciting to read, most of them were a bit of a letdown – being rather clumsy and awkward.

Well I just inhale short stories at Christmas, there is just something about cold winter nights, curled up in front of the fire, solving murders from the sofa! Sleuths on the Scent by Dorothy Sayers - in which the solution hinged on the detective and reader on observed details.The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products.

The Adventure of Abbey Grange' by Conan Doyle - Sherlock Holmes chooses to play judge and jury, after his detective work is done . By today's standards these stories are quaint but may be worth a read if you are interested in early detective fiction. My favourites in this were the Sherlock Holmes (which I've read many times), The Chopham Affair, and Haunted House, but my absolute favourite was The Mystery of Felwyn Tunnel, which is very like The Signalman by Charles Dickens, a story that I love. The Chopham Affair by Edgar Wallace - in which a blackmailer of ladies meets his end on a snowy night by a roadside with a fantastic twist in the end.A quick and easy read - while some were interesting most we pretty mediocre, no real twists or turns, they seemed to get more lame as the book went on - the best stories being at the front of the book.