>UPDATE: Before we leave the topic of mysteries, here is the first paragraph of P.D. James's latest from the NY Times yesterday. Sounds like a good holiday read.
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>"The traditional comforts of the British country house mystery — puzzling plot, attractive setting, brainy detective, interesting characters — spill from P. D. James’s latest novel, THE PRIVATE PATIENT (Knopf, $25.95), like harvest bounty from a cornucopia. The locale, which always sets the tone and determines the content of James’s elegant storytelling, couldn’t be more conducive for a quiet murder: Cheverell Manor, a Tudor pile in the Dorset countryside, for generations a blueblood family seat but now the private home and exclusive clinic of the renowned plastic surgeon, Dr. George Chandler-Powell. Inviting a mystery lover into this historic residence, with its timbered great hall and grand staircase leading to treasure-filled upper rooms, is like whispering “Once upon a time . . . ” to a child."

One of my favorite authors...