Crooks, Crimes, and Christmas (Wwl Mystery, 473) by Susan Slater, Ed Gorman, Irene Marcuse

Crooks, Crimes, and Christmas by Susan Slater


Four Festive Tales Of Foul Play . . . With All The Trimmings

A Way to the Manger
Susan Slater

A local teen is missing and Native American psychologist Ben Pecos begins to piece together some disturbing facts. The girl, a high school basketball star, harbors a dark and painful secret, one that puts her on a collision course with a ring of human predators.

The Santa Claus Murders
Ed Gorman

Iowa lawyer turned private eye Sam McCain stumbles over a dead Santa at a Black River Falls Christmas party. Sam knows the real tragedy is that the victim will hardly be mourned. Sam begins to look for answers and finds deception, blackmail and . . . A second body . . .

What Child Is This
Irene Marcuse

It's Christmas morning and New York Social worker Anita Servi goes out to buy bagels -- and comes home with a baby. The infant belongs to a struggling addict trying to go clean, but it was the woman's sister who handed Anita the baby -- as well as the mystery of his mother's murder.

The Gold Band
Michael Jahn

When NYPD Captain Bill Donovan finds a gold ring inside a Christmas goose, his curiosity gets the better of him. His investigation leads to Manhattan's meat district, where he finds himself sorting through a rash of break-ins, a henhouse full of ex-cons and the kind of mayhem that promises a holiday to remember.


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I almost gave up reading this book after finishing the first story - 'A Way to the Manger'. I found it hard to get into the characters. Seemed like I was missing a lot of background information about the relationships involved. There really was not a mystery per say and the plot itself was not that entertaining. But I stuck it out and read the next story which was much more interesting.

I actually enjoyed all of the last 3 stories about equally. Each was interesting in it's own way.

I really liked the main characters in all 3 of the stories and would not mind picking up some of the series books that they are in.

Overall an interesting introduction to some new authors.

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