Twelve Deaths of Christmas

Twelve Deaths of Christmas by Marian Babson
Adult Mysteries-Main Level - BABSON


There is a certain chill in the air this holiday season with Marian Babson’s Twelve Deaths of Christmas. The story takes place in a London boarding house filled with a wide assortment of lodgers. There is a retired Major, a foreign student from the Middle East, an American, and several others. But something is not right with one of these seemingly normal characters. One of them has taken their dislike of the constant rushing nature of the holiday too far and has lashed out fatally toward those viewed as deserving punishment. This madman, or women, is on the loose in London. The killer has been able to make his or her crimes appear to be unrelated or even accidents but Detective Knowles is not fooled. He knows that this fiend will keep striking and will get more brazen with each murder. His investigation leads him closer and closer to the boarding house where the occupants inside are preparing a Christmas feast while unaware that one of them plans for this holiday to be everyone’s last. The story is a quick read at less than two hundred pages and the reader is actually clued into the murder’s thoughts in certain chapters which helps build some tension. In all, the book would be a perfect light read for those with a little down time during the hectic holiday season.