A Christmas Crime Story: Mystery in White by J. Jefferson Farjeon

Mystery in White was a great book to read in these last days before Christmas, entertaining and atmospheric. The descriptions of the deep gathering snow as it stopped a train, piled against doors, and hid bodies, had me convinced I was also snowed in. I kept reminding myself that we had not seen snow for weeks!

I enjoyed the diverse characters, a group of passengers from a snowbound train. They decide to walk to the next station but, driven by the elements, find refuge in an empty country home. Empty, and yet with tea set and fires roaring!

The mystery is why the house was abandoned in such horrid weather--where can the inhabitants have gone? Clues include a torn letter, a bread knife, an open door which had been previously locked. Meantime, a young woman nurses several passengers and determines they will have a jolly Christmas Day even in unlikely circumstances--including a possible murder.

I first heard about the novel at the Battered, Tattered, Yellowed & Creased blog run by my son. You can read his thoughtful review here.

The British Library Crime Classics series reprints best selling works from the early 20th and 19th c. Other books in the series which I previously reviewed include:

The Notting Hill Mystery by Charles Warren Adams
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2015/08/domestic-noir-from-notting-hill-mystery.html
The Female Detective by Andrew Forrester
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2015/08/domestic-noir-from-notting-hill-mystery.html
Death of a Busybody by George Bellairs
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/09/amusing-classic-crime-story-for-grim.html