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The Santa Klaus Murder: A British Library Crime Classic    by Mavis Doriel Hay Amazon.com order for
Santa Klaus Murder
by Mavis Doriel Hay
Order:  USA  Can
Poisoned Pen, 2015 (2015)
Softcover, e-Book
* * *   Reviewed by Mary Ann Smyth

A traditional family gathering to celebrate the Christmas season was insisted upon by the patriarch of the family, Sir Osmond Melbury. This gala event was to be held at the family's country home away from London.

Unfortunately for Sir Osmond, the holiday did not go as he expected. He was found in the library with a bullet in his head on Christmas Day! And it seems his family is more worried about Osmond's will than the fact that he was just murdered.

Then there is the puzzle of the two Santa Klaus outfits. One was ordered and never arrived. Subsequently, another was ordered and duly came in time for the festivities.

It seems as though none of the family likes any of the others. Even the police chief says that although he knew the family well, he wished that he knew them better. Then the answer might be at his fingertips. Every one of them could have been the culprit – one so cruel as to kill a family member on Christmas Day! And we must not forget about the chauffeur, an old family retainer. He was abruptly let go after many years of faithful service. Could he be the culprit?

The Santa Klaus Murder by Mavis Doriel Hay is another of the mysteries from the British Library Crime Classics, written in the 1930s, when crime writing was at its peak – called the Golden Age of Crime Writing. It's good writing, along with a brief look into upper crust life before World War II in Great Britain.

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