Christmas is a time of goodwill to all men ... or is it?

As the nights draw in, throw another log on the fire and settle back into your armchair to enjoy this collection of ten classic Christmas mysteries, in which crime's best known sleuths, from Rebus to Holmes and Cadfael to Father Brown, uncover murder and mayhem galore.

Whether it's a Christmas goose with a surprising secret cargo, a murdered pantomime dame, or a killer who departs the scene of the crime without leaving a single footprint, these stories will puzzle and delight in equal measure. And along the way, there'll be enough carols and Christmas pudding, mistletoe and mulled wine, to warm the heart of a stone-cold killer ... perhaps.

Contributions by: Arthur Conan Doyle, Dorothy L Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, Ellis Peters, G K Chesterton, Edmund Crispin, Val McDermid, Ian Rankin, Carter Dickson