During the Holidays when time is shorter I love to read short story mysteries and this anthology was just perfect for the season. The stories range from cozy to hardboiled, historical and modern. I was familiar with most of the authors but there were a few pleasant surprises. Enjoy

Sure To Appeal..
A collection of crime capers and romps for the Christmas period featuring a host of award winning crime writers. All very readable and sure to appeal to a broad range of readers. A satisfying anthology.

This is a collection of eighteen short stories. I found that I liked them all & was really happy that I read the book.

I love holiday stories and mysteries and this collection combines the two. One of the best things about a collection like this is being exposed to so many different writers and writing styles. I enjoyed mos of the entries here but the title story is destined to be a classic and I plan to reread it regularly at Christmas.

A brilliant and occasionally funny collection of short stories with a crime and Christmas theme. Highly enjoyable and great for an alternative dose of festive enteratinment

I read this over the festive period and it was so much fun!

I enjoyed this collection of crime stories themed around the holidays quite a bit. Particularly because I was surprised to find a number of more international authors had lended their talents to it. The themes of Christmas are not always prevalent in each story, and some were a little boring (I disliked maybe 3 out of the many) but overall I had a good time reading this Christmas crime collection.

This book was hilarious! I stayed up way late into the night laughing my head off!!

A very interesting collection of eighteen stories, set all over the world, and in many eras, during the holiday season. These tales are divided into three sections: "Joy to the World"- Acts of Holiday Kindness; "Silent Night"- The Darkest of Holiday Noir; and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" and other Holiday Secrets. Their authors were mostly new to me but I will be happy to meet most of them again.

I enjoyed most of the stories and there was only one, really, that I felt missed the mark completely. Among those that I found very well written, very clever, or just generally quite good are "The Usual Santas" (cheeky and fun); "Queen of the Hill" (Christmas noir by Stuart Neville); the very understated "Martin" by Ed Lin; "Red Christmas" by James Benn (set in a POW camp in Korea); "When the Time Came" by Lene Kaaberbol & Agnete Friis, a timely story of troubled immigrants in Denmark; "Hairpin Holiday" by Sujata Massey, a mystery set in 1920s Bombay; and Peter Lovesey's contribution, "Supper with Miss Shivers", a holiday ghost story.

There were several others that I enjoyed just a bit less. All in all, I found this to be a very successful collection of stories and an excellent introduction to new (to me) authors. That may prove to be the same situation for you. If you enjoy mystery, crime or thriller stories, this would be a collection to choose, even if it's not the holiday season.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

With a cheerful Santa on the cover, it would be easy to mistake this for a fun holiday collection of stories. It becomes apparent right away, as Lovesey mentions in the forward, that the holidays see an uptick in crime and these short tales detail them. There were a lot of great stories, a couple a little longer than I was expecting, but they were very good overall. I liked the wide variety of tales, in both setting and time period. I follow a few of these Soho authors quite closely, and enjoyed getting a chance to dip my toe into the style of many others.

A link to my blog post review of this book

https://thespooniemummy.com/2017/12/07/blogmas-day-seven-book-review-the-usual-santas-a-collection-of-soho-crime-christmas-capers/

Short crime stories with a christmas theme.
I always enjoy when a crime story surprises me and here's a book full of them! Perfect for the Christmas holidays when you get a chance to read a little between family times.

Princess Fuzzypants here:
I truly like anthologies of short stories. Sometimes a reader wants to sink his or her teeth into a full length novel and other times, it is refreshing to dip in and out of a book. I must admit I was expecting more Christmas/Santa themed stories but it did not detract greatly from my enjoyment. One story had Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler and another was a ghost story. As with any anthology, there were stories I preferred more than others not unlike a box of chocolates. No doubt other readers will choose different stories as their favourites. Whatever your choice, It provides a good variety of fascinating fare.
I give this four purrs and two paws up.

There are often, indeed, there are usually, plenty of ‘taster’ books on sale at this time of year. Soho Crime’s is one of those which collects short stories. In fact, they claim in their publicity that as soon as they announced their intention to produce a collection, they were inundated by submissions. Oddly, though, all the short stories in this collection appear to be by their house authors, as one can easily see in the back of the book; no editor is named. Let me be clear: Soho are a good publishing house with an excellent list. I am calling attention to their pretence that their Christmas collection--not cheap, not at all--is intended to boost their authors and encourage sales.
There are eighteen contributors, including a number of luminaries such as Mick Herron and Peter Lovesey; some of the stories (particularly those by the eight women in the book) use the conventions of ghosts and ghouls that are characteristic of Christmas tales. By contrast, most of the male authors (mostly American noir writers) do what they do, but at shorter length, including noir violence and not much by way of recognizing Santa; they are often men with experience of America’s foreign wars. There’s not a lot of peace on earth, and too much that’s about revenge. There’s not much of the kinds of ironies that make short stories such challenges to concise writing.
However, the book’s title is taken from a story by Mick Herron (UK), whose wild ironies and stylish writing are almost worth the price of the book (nine pounds on Kindle and thirteen for the hardback).. Imagine a huge mall at the end of Christmas shopping, with a group of duty Santas in full kit settling down to enjoy themselves as the mall closed and they were at last finished ho-ho-hoing. But, of course, they’re not, as—incognito as they remain, out of a sense of professionalism—there is one more Santa present than there ought to be. How this is to be solved is the workers’ revenge; I know where my sympathies lie.
Martin Limon (US) also deals with the ordinary Joe’s experiences of being part of the PX culture in Korea, and how the cadre of staff sergeants find justice for the weak and deserving. Timothy Hallinan shares Limon’s views from below; in this story a Bangkok street-child (who turns out to be an exceptionally gifted artist) tries hard to take care of a much younger but loses sight of her. There is something here that is linked to O. Henry’s Gift of the Magi. One should find oneself sniffing at Christmas. And one should think hard about reasons for law enforcement professionals to bend the law in order to give survivors ways to cope with the deaths of their murdered children and grandchildren by giving them a story they can live with, as Tod Goldberg does with compassion. By contrast, Henry Chang tells a story of revenge in New York’s Chinatown, which has more or less nothing to do with Christmas, but something to do with the end of the Chinese New Year rites.
Meanwhile, the women offer stories in which Christmas has some role, including Sujata Massey’s (US, among other national possibilities), which is set in 1920s Bombay and deals with charlatans; a story that uses the Nina Borg series (Kaaberbøl & Agnete Friis [Denmark]), which deals with a baby coming to early as an African refugee tries to find the man she has travelled (‘such a long journey’) to find. And Helene Tursten (Sweden) turns what appears to be a pointless and boring tale of an old lady living alone. Where is this going (one might ask) and why does an abandoned zimmer frame seem to be the centre of the piece? The suspicious reader will wonder if Maud (the central character after the zimmer frame) once killed her sister by pushing her down the apartment building’s stairs, but there is much more of Maud’s everyday life. She has herself been subject to her mother and sister, and knows about being trapped. And she does have a penchant for violence, as well as The Problem: the violence of the hard-drinking husband who has moved in upstairs, whose abuse of his wife Maud can hear. Do not succumb to boredom: freedom is just over the first step. Sometimes release is just beyond the first step.

This collection of Christmas crime stories caught my eye because of the clever title and held my attention because of the wide range of entertaining stories. The contributing authors include Peter Lovesey, Sujata Massey, Stephanie Barron, Ed Lin, Cara Black and several others. I was familiar with some authors, like Lovesey, Massey, and Barron before this, but I was happy to be introduced to several new authors. The stories take place throughout the world including Cuba, England, New York, and Korea and range from very funny to dark, to touching, and even depressing.

One of my favorite stories in the collection is by Helene Tursten, a Swedish author who was new to me. The story about an elderly woman who isn’t as helpless as she appears is clever and dark and since finishing it, I’ve read a couple of Tursten’s full-length novels. Author Mick Herron is also new to me, and I enjoyed his amusing story “The Usual Santas” about the commercialism of Christmas. I’ve enjoyed Stephanie Barron’s novels and was glad to see a story featuring the sleuth from her novels, Jane Austen.

Along with several stories I loved, there were a few that didn’t appeal to me, but that’s to be expected with just a wide variety of stories. Although I wouldn’t rate each story with 5 stars, I do think the overall collection is worthy of that high rating. The stories in this book kept me entertained from the beginning to the end.

I received this book from NetGalley through the courtesy of Soho Crime. The book was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.

An entertaining assortment of Christmas stories, just in time for the festive season.

"The Usual Santas" is a collection of short stories from authors of Soho Press. It features three different sections, allowing the reader to pick and chose what one to read. Some are short and some are long and a couple did not seem to fit in this collection. .

There's nothing like a good mix of crime and Christmas to put you in the holiday spirit, and Soho Crime has come up with a winning collection of short stories for a wide range of reading preferences.

These eighteen stories are written by bestselling and award-winning authors. With crime and Christmas as their common themes, they range from laugh-filled to heartwarming to the most hardboiled of holiday noir. They're also set all over the world: Sweden, England, South Korea, Thailand, Cuba, Ireland, the United States-- and the list goes on.

These stories do run the gamut of styles, and some of the authors contributed something different from what their fans may be used to. For example, Gary Corby, who writes the wonderful Athenian mysteries set in ancient Greece, has a very different subject and setting this time. (I do enjoy it when my favorite authors "branch out" from time to time.)

There are so many gems in The Usual Santas, but I will at least mention the ones that shone the brightest for me: Helene Tursten's "An Elderly Lady Seeks Peace at Christmas Time," Mick Herron's "The Usual Santas," Ed Lin's "Martin," and Colin Cotterill's "There's Only One Father Christmas, Right?" And I feel guilty for not listing them all.

There's also an added bonus to reading a short story collection like this. Have you wondered if you'd like these authors' books? Then this collection is an excellent starting point for you. Don't be surprised if you find yourself heading to the bookstore or library with a long list of new authors after reading The Usual Santas. Oh, the wonderful reading you have in store!

“The Usual Santas” is a short-story collection featuring some of the best authors from Soho Press. It is the ultimate anthology for every reader of mysteries during the “holiday season.” When we are all looking for something quick to read, this book will help take our minds off the chaos surrounding what should be a happy, family celebration. While these stories might not evoke happy memories of candy canes and chocolate, they certainly will take your mind off trying to find a parking spot at the mall.

“The Usual Santas” is a collection of the Christmas naughty and nice, the good and not so good, and the definitely creepy. The stories are unconventional, quick to read and, and all have a Christmas-time theme. This format allows a reader to finish a compelling story all in one sitting. It is perfect for plane trips or car rides, and makes good reading while waiting for appointments or when taking others (CHILDREN) to practice, or lessons, or games, or meetings, or afterschool events – the list goes on!

I received an advance copy of “The Usual Santas” from Soho Press, and NetGalley to read and review, and I was able to finish the stories on my time schedule without interrupting my other plans or forgetting where I was in the book. The stories are all different, some longer and some shorter, but there is something for every reader, and all are fascinating. I can read these Christmas stories every year and love them each time.

This was a wonderful collection of crime stories based around Christmas and a delightful introduction to some authors whose work I had not read previously.
The short stories take place in different centuries and on different continents. Some are charming and whimsical; some are harsh and maybe brutal but each one draws you into its world.
I would definitely recommend it wholeheartedly and I will be looking for other books from some of my new favourites published by Soho Press.