{"schema_version":"bf_book_companion_v1","release_id":"20260418T162306Z","book":{"amazon_purchase_url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/1613165722?tag=bookfrontier-20","asin":"1613165722","authors":["Otto Penzler","Jason Starr","Lyndsay Faye","Loren D. Estleman","Ace Atkins","Rob Hart","Laura Lippman","Jeffery Deaver"],"book_id":"9781613165720","canonical_url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/christmas-crimes-at-the-mysterious-bookshop-1613165722","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781613165720.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-18T16%3A23%3A06Z","description":"The oldest mystery specialty bookstore in the world, The Mysterious Bookshop, has for most of its forty-five-year history commissioned an original short story as a holiday gift for its customers. Written exclusively for the store and never published elsewhere, the stories were given as a holiday gift to its customers as a thank you for their business, handed out or mailed between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. The prompt for the story requires three elements: that it be set at Christmastime, that it involve a crime of some kind, or the suspicion of one, and that it be set at least partially in the bookstore. And from these loose structural guidelines, diverse tales took flight. The dozen tales included in this volume are among the finest to be produced in this annual tradition, sure to charm any reader looking for a holiday-themed escape. Included herein are the ingenious \"Snowflake Time\" by Laura Lippman; Lyndsay Faye's tale of vengeance \"A Midnight Clear\"; the challenging brainteaser, \"A Christmas Puzzle,\" by Ragnar Jónasson; \"Hester's Gift,\" an impossible crime story by Tom Mead; the suspenseful \"The Christmas Party\" by Jeffery Deaver; Thomas Perry's hilarious comedy of errors, \"Here We Come A-Wassailing;\" and other tales appropriate for the season, collected and introduced by Otto Penzler. The result is, objectively speaking, the finest \"stocking stuffer\" that a mystery fan could hope to find.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9781613165720","publication_date":"20241022","publisher":"The Mysterious Press","slug":"christmas-crimes-at-the-mysterious-bookshop","subtitle":"","title":"Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"FIC022050","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Mystery Anthologies","score":0.8339,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"FIC022070","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Cozy Mysteries","score":0.813,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"FIC022100","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Amateur Sleuths","score":0.8118,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"FIC022050","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Mystery Anthologies","score":0.8339,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"FIC022070","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Cozy Mysteries","score":0.813,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"FIC022100","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Amateur Sleuths","score":0.8118,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"FIC022030","confidence_band":"high","label":"British Mystery","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"FIC022050","confidence_band":"high","label":"Mystery Anthologies","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"FIC022100","confidence_band":"high","label":"Amateur Sleuths","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Mystery Anthologies","score":0.8339,"slug":"mystery-anthologies"},{"label":"Cozy Mysteries","score":0.813,"slug":"cozy-mysteries"},{"label":"Amateur Sleuths","score":0.8118,"slug":"amateur-sleuths"}],"reader_fit":["Good for readers who enjoy Mystery Anthologies","Good for readers interested in short stories","Good for fans of Christmas"],"related_lists":[{"intro":"Collection-driven reading built for precision, variety, and quick impact.","slug":"how-its-told-anthology-short-form","title":"Anthology and Short Form Fiction","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/lists/how-its-told-anthology-short-form"},{"intro":"Books built from stories that land quickly, then linger.","slug":"how-its-told-short-story-collections","title":"Short Story Collections","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/lists/how-its-told-short-story-collections"},{"intro":"","slug":"shelf-fic022050-mystery-detective-collections-anthologies","title":"Mystery & Detective Collections & Anthologies Books","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/lists/shelf-fic022050-mystery-detective-collections-anthologies"},{"intro":"","slug":"shelf-fic022070-mystery-detective-cozy","title":"Mystery & Detective Cozy Books","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/lists/shelf-fic022070-mystery-detective-cozy"}],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Harlan Coben","Otto Penzler"],"book_id":"9780547553962","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780547553962.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-18T16%3A23%3A06Z","score":17.5049,"title":"The Best American Mystery Stories 2011","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780547553962"},{"authors":["Otto Penzler","Ace Atkins","Lawrence Block","& 0 more"],"book_id":"9781936661190","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781936661190.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-18T16%3A23%3A06Z","score":17.3741,"title":"In Pursuit of Spenser","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781936661190"},{"authors":["Otto Penzler","Laura Lippman"],"book_id":"9780544032576","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780544032576.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-18T16%3A23%3A06Z","score":15.1565,"title":"The Best American Mystery Stories 2014","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780544032576"},{"authors":["C. J. Box","Otto Penzler","Dan John Miller","Sarah Mollo-Christensen"],"book_id":"9781328636102","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781328636102.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-18T16%3A23%3A06Z","score":15.1086,"title":"The Best American Mystery Stories 2020","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781328636102"},{"authors":["Otto Penzler"],"book_id":"9780544302310","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780544302310.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-18T16%3A23%3A06Z","score":15.0825,"title":"The Best American Mystery Stories of the Nineteenth Century","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780544302310"},{"authors":["Otto Penzler","Piper Goodeve","Daniel Thomas May","Alex Wyndham"],"book_id":"9780593311028","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780593311028.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-18T16%3A23%3A06Z","score":15.0771,"title":"The Big Book of Victorian Mysteries","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780593311028"},{"authors":["Otto Penzler"],"book_id":"9781613162163","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781613162163.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-18T16%3A23%3A06Z","score":15.074,"title":"Golden Age Detective Stories","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781613162163"},{"authors":["Otto Penzler"],"book_id":"9781613165423","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781613165423.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-18T16%3A23%3A06Z","score":14.9566,"title":"Golden Age Whodunits","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781613165423"}],"topics":[{"evidence_refs":["phrase_map_match"],"label":"Short Stories","score":0.0624,"slug":"short-story"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:collection"],"label":"Collection","score":0.0512,"slug":"collection"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:anthology"],"label":"Anthology","score":0.0496,"slug":"anthology"}],"what_you_get":["Themes: Short Stories, Collection, Anthology.","Reading lane: Mystery Anthologies and Cozy Mysteries.","Publisher: The Mysterious Press."]},"llm_signals":null,"source_presence":{"amazon":true,"book_detail":true,"goodreads":true,"llm_signals":false,"similarity_seed":true},"stats":{"amazon_ratings_count":207,"goodreads_ratings_count":1760,"goodreads_reviews_count":344,"quality_score":0.9434}}