Christmas has served as a fertile background for mystery fiction for a very long time, perhaps because it has the appearance of a time of peace and love while being so at odds with violence, crime, and even murder.

This delightful seasonal anthology includes holiday tales from some of the greatest Golden Age mystery authors. It offers such giants of the genre as Ellery Queen, Mary Roberts Rinehart, John D. MacDonald, and John Dickson Carr while introducing lesser-known writers such as Norvell Page, Meredith Nicholson, and Pat Frank. With chronicles that range from truly chilling to heart-warming to hilarious to puzzling, this volume highlights a variety of subjects and styles as each author brings their own approach to the most wonderful time of the year.

Featuring fourteen outstanding stories of Yuletide mystery selected and introduced by Edgar-winning anthologist Otto Penzler, Golden Age Christmas Mysteries offers hours of cozy reading, best enjoyed on a cold, snowy night, in a comfortable chair near a blazing fire.