12 Days of Winter: Crime at Christmas ~ Stuart MacBride

This ebook collection of linked short stories playfully follows the pattern of the well-known Christmas carol. The first story is called, 'A Partridge in a Pear Tree,' the second, 'Turtle Doves' and so on. Despite this playful structure, the stories are violent and macabre. In 'A Partridge in a Pear Tree,' fat Billy Partridge - desperate for 'a joint and a packet of Jaffa Cakes' - has to steal Monet's 'The Pear Tree' in order to pay a debt. In 'French Hens' a restaurant owner finds a novel way to deal with a critic and in 'Calling Birds' Tracy makes an unwelcome discovery while she operates the 'Sexy Sadie' phone line. 'Geese a Laying' sees prison guard Val take extreme steps to have a baby and in 'Drummers Drumming' PC Richardson's dangerous plans go awry. Although many of the stories are gruesome, most are simultaneously funny; think Hot Fuzz in North East Scotland.

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Read an interview with Stuart MacBride here.