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12 Christmas murder mystery books to get you feeling festive

12 Christmas murder mystery books to get you feeling festive

by Penguin editors

8 October 2026

min read

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Christmas crime books to read in 2026

The countdown to the festive season has begun, making it the perfect time to curl up with a cosy crime book set at Christmas. You can expect amateur sleuths, country manor settings, and locked-room mysteries that will keep you guessing – all set against a snowy backdrop or Christmas party.

Whether you’re in the mood for a classic Christmas crime novel, or looking for one of the latest bestsellers, we’ve rounded up the best cosy Christmas mysteries below.

Classic Christmas murder mystery books

Nothing beats a classic crime novel at this time of year, which is why we’ve rounded up the best Golden Age Christmas crime novels, including Agatha Christie’s most festive mystery.

Murder in the Snow by Gladys Mitchell (1950)

In this snow-filled, rural festive mystery, Mrs Bradley, the sharp-eyed amateur detective and celebrated psychiatrist, has decided to spend Christmas with her nephew at his beautiful house in the Cotswolds. But it isn’t long before a mystery unfolds. There are strange events occurring in the nearby wood and local villagers are receiving anonymous threatening letters. Then the snow begins to fall – and a body is discovered. Mrs Bradley is on the case, but she’ll have to hatch an ingenious plan to reveal the truth and find the culprit…

Read it if you like: snowy settings, amateur detectives like Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple or Murder She Wrote’s Jessica Fletcher, murder mysteries set over the Christmas period.

Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie (1938)

In this festive locked-room mystery, a family reunion on Christmas Eve ends in the murder of tyrannical patriarch Simeon Lee. Hercule Poirot, who is staying in the village, is on the case, and finds an atmosphere not of mourning but of mutual suspicion, as everyone had their own reason to hate the old man.

Agatha Christie is the master of Golden Age mysteries. While Hercule Poirot’s Christmas is her most overtly festive murder mystery, we also recommend 4:50 from Paddington, which is set in the run-up to Christmas, and The Sittaford Mystery for its backdrop of a heavy snowstorm.

Read it if you like: locked-room Christmas murder mysteries, closed-circle mysteries like Knives Out, books set at Christmas.

Murder For Christmas by Francis Duncan (1949)

Mordecai Tremaine has been invited to spend Christmas at a friend’s country manor in a sleepy village. Arriving on Christmas Eve, he finds that the revelries are in full flow – until the partygoers find a dead body that resembles Father Christmas. This is a wonderfully executed Golden Age murder mystery, featuring a quirky and unassuming amateur sleuth and a cast of oddball characters. With the limited number of characters and suspects, you’ll love attempting to figure out whodunnit.

Read it if you like: Christmas party murder mysteries, country manor settings, amateur sleuths.

A Maigret Christmas and Other Stories by Georges Simenon (1950)

A Maigret Christmas brims with a twinkling festive atmosphere, transporting you to Christmas in 1950s Paris, where Inspector Maigret has been asked to track down a mysterious intruder dressed in red and white. Elsewhere in this collection, alarms send police on a cat-and-mouse chase across the city, and a cynical woman performs a festive miracle in a nightclub. These are comforting, cosy stories that make for excellent Christmas reading.

Read it if you like: comforting short stories, atmospheric locations, mysteries set during the festive period.

A Christmas Party by Georgette Heyer (1941)

It is no ordinary Christmas at Lexham Manor. Six holiday guests find themselves the suspects in a murder inquiry when the old miser who owns the estate is found stabbed in the back. Inheritance seems to be the motive in this cosy country-house mystery, but the real conundrum is how any of the suspects could have entered the locked room where the victim was found. This is a case for Inspector Hemingway of Scotland Yard.

Read it if you like: locked-room mysteries and classic whodunnits set at Christmas, the country house setting of Georgette Heyer’s Footsteps in the Dark, eccentric characters.

Death Comes at Christmas by Gladys Mitchell (1936)

Escape to wintry rural Oxfordshire in Death Comes at Christmas, where the eccentric amateur sleuth Mrs Bradley is investigating a murder. It is Christmas Eve, and a local solicitor has been found dead by the river. Everyone in the village believes that he suffered a heart attack, but Mrs Bradley is suspicious and soon uncovers a series of disturbing clues. As the frost thaws and spring begins, the inimitable detective must work fast if she is to protect the people close to her from a resourceful killer.

Read it if you like: an eccentric but charming amateur detective, a rural setting, a book not set solely during the festive season.

New Christmas mystery books

If you’re looking for a more recent festive crime novel, the below are our recommendations for the best modern Christmas murder mystery books, including from popular authors Mark Edwards, F. L. Everett, and the late Denzil Meyrick.

The Christmas Tree Murders by Katie Lumsden (2026)

In this immersive, Victorian-set Christmas mystery, the year is 1883 and the wealthy inventor Sir Russell Morgan has invited his friends and investors to celebrate Christmas at his country manor. But when a footman is found dead, and police rule it an accident, it falls to his close friend, the kitchen maid Millie, to investigate the guests and find the killer. As Christmas Day arrives, bringing with it another dead body, Millie is in a race against time to find the culprit, in this atmospheric mystery.

Read it if you like: closed-circle murder mysteries set at a Christmas party, amateur sleuths, a country house setting, Agatha Christie’s works.

Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop, ed. by Otto Penzler (2026)

For the past 45 years, The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City has commissioned a crime writer to pen an original short story at Christmas. Now, for the first time, 12 of these festive crime stories have been published as a collection, each involving a mystery set partially inside the beloved bookshop at Christmas. Featuring celebrated crime fiction authors such as Ragnar Jonasson and Laura Pipplam, as well as new voices, this is a collection to curl up with at Christmas; it also makes for an excellent stocking filler.

If you’re more in the mood for a collection of Golden Age crime novels, Otto Penzler has also collated a new collection of older stories in Golden Age Christmas Mysteries, out later this year.

Read it if you like: books about books, cosy mysteries, stories with a wintry New York setting.

Revenge Plot by Stephanie Wrobel (2026)

Revenge Plot’s snowed-in setting adds to its sense of claustrophobia, making it a tense mystery with all the clever, puzzle-box elements you’d expect from an Agatha Christie, Anthony Horowitz or Alex Pavesi novel. Struggling writer Arnie Tenderton yearns to be a published author, and he goes to extreme lengths to capture literary agent Claudia Conley’s attention – including interrupting her Christmas break in the remote Catskills mountains, armed with a manuscript that exposes Claudia’s worst secret.

Read it if you like: isolated snowy settings, Anthony Horowitz’s The Magpie Murders, Alex Pavesi’s smart crime capers.

The Christmas Magpie by Mark Edwards (2025)

Noel and Dani’s first Christmas in their new street initially seems idyllic, with the glittering lights and friendly neighbours. But then sinister presents start appearing on their doorstep and they feel like they’re being watched. When tragedy strikes at a Christmas party, they must ask: who can they trust on this seemingly perfect street? Dark, twisty, and deliciously tense, The Christmas Magpie is a chilling festive thriller that will have you racing to uncover the truth.

Read it if you like: tense thrillers set at a Christmas party, books that are more creepy than cosy, high-stakes domestic suspense by Claire Douglas and Shari Lapena.

The Christmas Stocking Murders by Denzil Meyrick (2025)

In this cosy Christmas mystery, Inspector Frank Grasby investigates a murder in a remote seaside town: a fisherman’s body has been discovered with a pair of stockings wrapped round his throat. As more stockings wash up on the shore, and a local innkeeper is murdered, this festive mystery becomes even more puzzling. So many things don’t add up to Grasby: why do the villagers have such high-quality hosiery? Who is the sinister stranger snooping around? And how can Grasby solve the murder when everyone is a suspect?

Read it if you like: remote settings, murder mysteries set at Christmas, books with a wry sense of humour.

Murder At Mistletoe Manor by F. L. Everett (2025)

In this charming festive mystery, journalist Nick ends up at Mistletoe Manor with a group of strangers after his car breaks down on a snow-bound country lane. When a dead body is discovered, his new friends become suspects and, as the police can’t access the hotel due to the snow, Nick takes on the role of investigator. Murder at Mistletoe Manor’s plentiful twists and red herrings will keep you guessing until the final reveal.

Read it if you like: light-hearted festive reads, an ensemble cast of suspects like in Agatha Christie’s novels, snowed-in murder mysteries featuring an amateur detective.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best cosy Christmas murder mystery books?

If you’re looking for a comforting classic, we recommend A Maigret Christmas and Other Stories by Georges Simenon for its atmospheric and snowy setting and relatively low-stakes action. We also suggest Georgette Heyer’s A Christmas Party for its cosy country house setting and Francis Duncan’s Murder for Christmas for being a puzzle-box mystery with a festive backdrop and no violence, gore, or jump-scares.

For a more modern cosy Christmas murder mystery, we suggest The Christmas Tree Murders by Katie Lumsden for its amateur sleuth and historical setting and Otto Penzler’s Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop for its light-hearted atmosphere.

What are the best Christmas murder mystery books for Agatha Christie fans?

Hercule Poirot’s Christmas is the most festive of Agatha Christie’s murder mysteries, as it’s a locked-room mystery set on Christmas Eve. If you’re looking for a Christmas crime novel that’s similar to Christie’s works, however, we recommend F. L. Everett’s Murder at Mistletoe Manor for being a closed-circle mystery with a wintry setting, Murder in the Snow by Gladys Mitchell for its eccentric amateur sleuth and Golden Age-style plotting, and The Christmas Tree Murders by Katie Lumsden for its historical setting and unlikely detective.

Which murder mystery books are actually set at Christmas?

In both Murder for Christmas by Francis Duncan and Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie, a man is killed on Christmas Eve at a festive gathering. Similarly, Georgette Heyer’s A Christmas Party is set, unsurprisingly, at a Christmas party, and the crux of the drama in Mark Edwards’ The Christmas Magpie also takes place at a Christmas gathering. Meanwhile, A Maigret Christmas by George Simenon, Murder in the Snow by Gladys Mitchell, The Christmas Tree Murders by Katie Lumsden, Revenge Plot by Stephanie Wrobel and The Christmas Stocking Murders by Denzil Meyrick are all set over the Christmas period.

12 Christmas murder mystery books to get you feeling festive

Classic Christmas murder mystery books

Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie (1938)

New Christmas mystery books

Frequently asked questions

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Locked room mysteries that keep you guessing

The best classic crime books of all time

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