The Christmas Stocking Murders – Denzil Meyrick

Published By: Bantam
Pages: 432
Released On: 07/11/2024

A case shrouded in secrets.
It’s just before Christmas, 1953. Grasby and Juggers are investigating a puzzling murder in the remote village of Uthley’s Bay. A fisherman has been found dead on the beach, with a stocking wound tight round his throat.

A festive mystery for one and all.
Hundreds of pairs of stockings, in neat cellophane bags, soon wash up on the shore. A blizzard cuts off Grasby and Juggers from help, and the local innkeeper is murdered. Any remaining Christmas cheer goes up in smoke as the villagers refuse to talk, leaving the two detectives chasing false leads in the snow.

A winter wonderland with no escape.
To make matters worse, Grasby can’t stop thinking about stockings. Why does everyone seem to be enjoying strangely high standards of hosiery, even beneath their oilskins? Who is the sinister bespectacled man snooping around their hotel? And how can they solve the murder when everyone in the village is a suspect?

*****

Thanks to Bantam for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review and spot on the book tour.

I already owned the first book in the series – Murder at Holly House – when I was sent a copy of the sequel for the book tour, and so I had to quickly read the first book and ended up absolutely loving it. And so I very quickly read this one too, with high hopes. Were they met?

I do think it’s ideal to read the first book first to get the full effect, but I think you could still get enjoyment from just reading this one, but you will miss out on some of the in-jokes and references. It’s such a fun mystery series that doesn’t feel heavy, even though it doesn’t hide away from difficult themes, particularly that of the after effects of WW2.

Frank is a loveable main character. He’s a bit odd, foolish, hapless, accident prone; he’s good at his job and wants to do well, but he always seems to be overlooked or ignored. Which is also the case in his family life. But he’s such a natural character that even though I am not a male police officer in Yorkshire in the 1950s, I can identify with him and want to go on this journey with him.

Frank’s superior Juggers gets a bigger role in this book and oh I can’t stand him. He’s well written and it’s great characterisation, but he’s such a rude, bossy, slimy man and I wish we didn’t have to have too much of him – although he is important to the story.

There are lots of other characters, some we met in the first book and some new – police criminals, victims, friends, colleagues, strangers – and they’re all rather good and there isn’t a waste one. But for me, Frank is front and centre and is one of the best creations in the genre I’ve read.

It’s interesting because it’s written in the first person, which I very rarely read, which means I was unused to the style. It’s also meant to be a memoir of sorts, based on reports of the investigations etc. and so there are other bits here and there – newspaper clippings for example – which makes it exciting.

Denzil has created such an atmospheric story; such a sense of space and time in Yorkshire in the 50s, it’s spot on And by setting it just after the war, it gives him the opportunity to use these sort of nostalgic parts (for better and for worse) which gives the characters an added layer.

It has a Christmas setting which makes it perfect for an autumn/winter read, but it is suitable for all year round, as it’s not a Christmas book as such, it just so happens to be set around that time.

There are a lot of cosy crime novels around and I’ve read most of them, but this one has a little difference. It’s hard to really explain why, so I hope you’ll get to read it and figure out what I mean, but it just has this edge, maybe because I normally read modern cosy crimes rather than historical? It’s cosy crime but involves serious crime, and I think Denzil has managed to balance that to appeal to fans of both genres.

It’s got a mixture of cosy crime, crime, historical, humour, festive, nostalgia – a bit of everything to appeal to all readers.

It’s fast paced but not too quick, slow enough to gain the information and know the characters without it dragging. It’s busy without being overwhelming, funny without being comedic. He’s got everything just right and I sure hope it’s going to be a longer series.

I think I preferred the first one. That’s not a negative on this one, but I think that first one was so original that it stood out, whereas this one obviously had something to compare it to. But it’s a very original, exciting series.