The Dark Side of Yuletide

We all love the warm and fuzzy feelings we get around the holidays. It is a comfort we can anticipate, and yet we fail to understand the other side of the bright holidays. 

Did you know that murders are statistically more common around major holidays, including Christmas? Amidst the glow of the firelight and mistletoe, the sinister reality is that people are still dying on the most joyous day of the year.

If that's the case, maybe we can alchemize this fact into something at least entertaining? Murder mysteries might relieve a little bit of the discomfort of this fact. To save you too much trouble, I divided them into two categories so you can pick your poison. If you can't stand the darkness, I've balanced it out with a little light 😁

Dark Reads

On Christmas Eve, heavy snowfall brings a train to a halt and passengers decide to take shelter in a nearby country house. It appears that someone should be home, and yet no one is apparently there. When a murder takes place as they search the house for clues, the passengers have to unravel the mystery before their time runs out.

Each of these stories is as playful as it is ingeniously plotted, the author's sly humor as evident as her hallmark narrative elegance and shrewd understanding of some of the most complex--not to say the most damning--aspects of human nature. A treat for P. D. James's legions of fans and anyone who enjoys the pleasures of a masterfully wrought whodunit.

If you are looking for a horror that blends Stephen King and the humor of The Office, Secret Santa might be for you. This horror-comedy is set in the 1980s starting with Lussi landing a job at a publisher that tasks her with finding the next big horror story. The difficulty of such a task is compounded by the fact that she is bullied by her co-workers which culminates when they give her a demonic-looking object during a Secret Santa exchange. However, before long these same co-workers become victims of horrific "accidents" that makes Lussi suspicious of the very gift they gave to her.

 Rose Grandon is a college sophomore when she is attacked, assaulted, and left for dead after a midnight mass choir practice. The last thing she hears is a tenor voice singing Silent Night. She is found several hours later in a ditch, beaten but alive. As she is treated in the hospital, she finds out that she is pregnant and makes the difficult decision to keep the baby. When she finally gives birth to a baby girl, she names her Mary. Rose raises her daughter in her small Connecticut hometown as she tries to get her old self back. Yet, twice a year the evil attacker strikes - once on Christmas Eve and the other on Christmas Day. Until the attacker is behind bars, neither Rose nor her baby can ever be truly safe, but now that he's found out that he has a daughter - it changes everything.

Cozy Reads

Following the charmingly inept Inspector Frank Grasby and his boss, Superintendent Juggers, this Christmas mystery occurs in 1953 at a seaside village. When a fisherman is found with a stocking around his neck, the investigation starts out simple enough but devolves into darker tones as these two investigators are trapped by a violent storm. The body count starts to rise as they encounter sinister villagers, stockings mysteriously washing ashore, and the village's obsession with fine hosiery. This story moves along with humor, depth, and even a bit of romance and could be a perfect cozy entertainment for the holidays. 

 Murder occurs during a Christmas house party and the victim, the owner of the substantial estate, is found in a room locked from the inside. Mathilda Clare was one of the guests resigned to spending Christmas at the Lexham Manor, along with 5 others: Nat Herriard, Joseph, Stephen, Paula, and Nat's sharp-dealing partner. Inspector Hemingway of Scotland Yard investigates only to find that each guest has something to hide. Through the investigation that seems to only grow more complicated as it goes along, readers will find the answer is hidden in plain sight. 

A book restoration expert and her husband travel to Loch Ness, Scotland at behest of their dear friend who is getting married. Since they plan on being married on New Year's Day, the couple travels there for the holidays, but are also roped into the mystery of twelve very rare and important books having gone missing.

While looking into this mystery, one of the guests gets poisoned and another gets shot in the heart, raising the stakes on the entire case. Now they must race to find a killer and book thief before more murders occur and their friend's future is at stake. 

Christmas of 1923, Lady Eleanor Swift has received a letter from an old friend of her uncle, Mr. Godfrey Cunliffe, asking her to stay in Cornwall for the holidays. The reason being, he believes his gardener is trying to kill him. Eleanor, along with her butler and detective beau, hurry to the manor house only to find a dead body. But, it is not Mr. Cunliffe - rather it is his gardener! Winter, 1923. It’s nearly Christmas and Lady Eleanor Swift has received a rather strange letter from an old friend of her uncle. Mr Godfrey Cunliffe has asked her to stay in Cornwall for the holidays – but only because he believes his gardener is trying to poison him! Eleanor quizzes the family and finds that everyone from the handyman to Mr. Cunliffe himself is keeping secrets, but he is still scared for his life.

Then the bulldog, Gladstone, pulls a charred corner of the missing garden plans from the fireplace and Eleanor believes she might have the clue that can find the hidden answer somewhere on the grounds. However, she is thwarted when someone tries to run her over with a lawnmower and she knows she had better solve this mystery before her time is up.

Puzzles as brain boosters

We have an ongoing Community Puzzle table that has put together some neat ones. All throughout the year we have a puzzle set out on one of our tables upstairs so that anyone in the community can participate in putting it together. Take a look at some of the ones we've completed so far:

Puzzles are an underrated pastime activity. Yes, it is slow, sometimes tedious, but there is something you can glean from such a paced activity. Unlike the fast, flashy hobbies of today, puzzles require patience, perseverance, and concentration. It's a skill-building activity and one that has proven to result in other benefits aside from the obvious. When you participate in puzzling, you can: improve your memory, problem-solving, attention, spatial reasoning, and mood. It has also been associated with stress reduction and preventative brain health such as reducing the acceleration of mental aging. If you are concerned with dementia or other accelerated memory decline, puzzling can be the perfect way to work in some preventative care.

Putting together jigsaw puzzles isn't the only way you can improve your health. Doing crosswords or Sudoku can also have beneficial effects. Chess and Scrabble can improve problem-solving and critical thinking. Word searches and card games are also games that can help memory. There are so many options that are relatively cheap and easy to pick up with the intention of improving overall health. And here at the library you can participate in at least one of these activities with other people, so the added stimulation of companionable conversation might also serve a purpose.

Words as therapy

Libraries are a place of words. The written word in the form of books, magazines, newspapers, and the like can be found in most of the space. Of course you can find self-help books that can be both therapeutic and chockful of information. But what else can a library provide? The quiet, unofficial works of a library and its frequenters can be the healing that takes form through various interactions.

Many people still believe that public libraries are stuffy, silent, and boring. Libraries are nothing like that, or at least the good ones aren't. People often come to the library for their daily dose of interaction and social connection. The words that are exchanged between patrons or between library staff members and patrons are sometimes the lifelines between people. Some conversations pass undetected by those outside their bubble, while others are clearly transmitted across space. Either way, these everyday interactions weave together people's day-to-days in the simplest and purest form of communication.

Neighbors chance upon one another within our walls, old classmates create tiny reunions when they accidentally meet through our threshold, and older patrons excitedly revisit with someone they haven't seen in years right in our foyer. These conversations are healing to our well-being as it ties us into our community, giving us direct links into caring for others, and building a sense of support simply through conversing. We witness interactions like this almost every single day.

Then there are the words that pass just between our own ears. The words you tell yourself, the ones you write to yourself, the ones you create and mull over. Oftentimes, having a spare moment to sit with the thoughts and feelings we experience can be a luxury. The simple act of bringing awareness to the self builds an important skill called self-awareness. Developing this skill can lead to better decision-making, stronger relationships, and improved emotional intelligence. Imagine simply being able to think freely and understand oneself in order to improve so many things at once.

The library tends to be a place that people come to think, work, create. Through these activities, there is a sort of rhythm that oftentimes gets lost in the hurry of our days. We learn to speak to ourselves again, to draw attention to the innerworkings of our own being, the thing that is often ignored in the hustle and bustle of modern living. Through this act, we get in touch with our natural way of operating in the world. We begin to get in touch with how we move internally and how that translates externally, which can allow for a sense of calm. In the same way a baby will be soothed by the sound of caretaker's heartbeat, we can also be comforted by our own inner pattern.

It is a common thing for me to reiterate to others that the library is more than just dusty old tomes and volumes. It encompasses so much more than it is usually given credit for. Stop into your local library for books, movies, take-and-makes, and more - but stay for the connections. Your heart will thank you. 💝💗💞