What To Read

This year, one of the delights of the mystery thriller genre was Deanna Raybourn's best-selling "Killers of a Certain Age." Buzzfeed called it a "Golden Girls meets James Bond thriller journey you want to be part of.” We asked Raybourn what she'd recommend for cozy mysteries to read and gift this holiday. Here's what she had to say.

Raybourn: There’s something so delightfully cozy about Christmas murder in an English village. Crackling fires, roasting chestnuts, and a corpse on the hearthrug—what could be jollier? As soon as the Thanksgiving leftovers are packed in the fridge, I pull out my favorite reads and settle in for a festive month of nostalgic crime. Here are a few of my must-reads:

A snowy death, a country Christmas, and Jane Austen at hand to solve the mystery. Perfection. 

There are heaps of holiday anthologies and these are two of my favorites. Perfect gifts for the mystery reader who may have overlooked some of the more elusive stories Edwards includes.

For decades, “a Christie for Christmas” by the Queen of Crime herself was guaranteed holiday happiness for mystery fans.

Throw in a copy of 4:50 From Paddington as its post-Christmas setting rounds out the trio nicely.

If that still isn’t enough—and your recipient enjoys non-fiction—wrap up Lucy Worsley’s new biography, Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman, for a delightfully comprehensive present.

And perhaps the best gift of them all is that of preparation. Present the mystery lover in your life with a copy of Your Guide to not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village by Maureen Johnson and ensure they won’t fall victim to some dastardly deed in the hedgerows of Hertfordshire.

Happy holidays!

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

They’ve spent their lives as the deadliest assassins in a clandestine international organization, but now that they’re sixty years old, four women friends can’t just retire – it’s kill or be killed in this action-packed thriller by New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-nominated author Deanna Raybourn.