2024 Advent Book 1 – “Murder for Christmas” by Francis Duncan

Last year I had a selection of books delivered to me to be used as a book Advent calendar with one to be opened on each day of December up to Christmas. Here’s my blog after opening the final parcel on 25 December 2023. The calendar was a success and I was very pleased with it even though I had read a few of the books before and there were a couple that I didn’t want to read. I’m not sure that I needed the extra books added to my to-be-read pile but it was a treat for the Christmas season and I appreciated the thought that had gone into choosing the selection for me.

This year I decided that I would purchase a similar bookish advent calendar and I have chosen to get it from The Tree House Bookshop in Kenilworth (see their website here). This is a not-for-profit bookshop which donates money to charity so I am glad to give to their good causes. I have never visited this shop or bought anything from them before but I have seen them posting on social media and when they advertised their Advent calendar I decided to give them a go. In mid-November I had a box of 24 book shaped parcels delivered, each of them wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper. They should contain a variety of second-hand books, the majority of which will be crime novels but which will also include some literary and contemporary fiction titles. It’s been a difficult time resisting the temptation to open them early !

Book one is Murder for Christmas by Francis Duncan. It’s a crime novel (the clue is in the title) originally printed in 1949 but more recently reissued by Penguin Random House in their Vintage Murder Mysteries series. It’s in excellent condition and an absolutely brilliant start to my Advent calendar. This is precisely the sort of book that I like to pick up in charity shops and the like but it’s not an author I have ever heard of before. And it’s a Christmas related book which is nice to start with.

A great beginning to the Advent season and a book I am looking forward to reading soon. I’m looking forward to seeing what else is in those carefully wrapped parcels over the next few weeks.