Though Christmas is a time of peace and joy, there can be a dark side to holiday cheer -- murder and mayhem may lurk within the merriment. This tempting collection serves up Christmas crime stories from some of the best mystery writers of the past 150 years: Agatha Christie, Ellis Peters, Arthur Conan Doyle, H.C. Bailey, and Thomas Hardy. The trinity cat / Ellis Peters A happy solution / Raymund Allen [Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle ](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL1518317W) / Arthur Conan Doyle An upright woman / H.R.F. Keating A book for Christmas / Christopher Hallam A pair of muddy shoes / Lennox Robinson The unknown murder / H.C. Bailey The buoy that did not light / Edgar Wallace A Christmas tragedy / Agatha Christie The ghost's touch / Fergus Hume The grotto / Pamela Sewell The show must not go on / David G. Rowlands Red lily / Dick Donovan The black bag left on a doorstep / C.L. Pirkis The grave by the handpost / Thomas Hardy Mr Wray's cash box / Wilkie Collins Solution of the endgame in 'A happy solution.'