I don’t reflexively reach for holiday literature at any time of year, but I grabbed THE USUAL SANTAS with both hands. I am in awe of the concept, which was conceived by an unnamed individual at Soho Press. The idea was to approach one of the most reliable and talented collective of authors on the planet --- the authors who labor mightily under the Soho Crime imprint --- and solicit Christmas stories from them. I’m not engaging in hyperbole here. I haven’t been totally immersed with every single book that Soho Crime has ever published, but I have never read a bad one, either, whether it ultimately sang to me or not. So I couldn’t see how THE USUAL SANTAS could miss. And it doesn’t. It is wonderful, magical and perfect in every way.

The stories follow Soho Crime’s template of editorial elements --- challenging mysteries and thrillers set in exotic locales --- to superlative effect. Each of the 18 tales that comprise this anthology is markedly different from the others, even as they share a common holiday theme. That said, they are grouped under three broad categories: “Joy to the World,” in which the stories concern acts of kindness (that are not all sweetness and light) at Christmas; “Silent Night,” which are very dark tales told after the tree lights are dimmed; and “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,” which collects vignettes involving secrets at Christmas, both committed and revealed. The collection as a whole is “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue”…well, very dark blue. A little over half of the stories here are brand new, some date back as far as 15 years, and a few have appeared elsewhere (though it is unlikely you have read them). Others, however, lack glad tidings. Good on that.

"It is wonderful, magical and perfect in every way.... There is no 'best' in THE USUAL SANTAS. Each and every tale has something to recommend it."

Helene Tursten starts things off with the understated title “An Elderly Lady Seeks Peace at Christmastime.” It features Maud, who is apparently a frequent subject of Tursten’s short stories. If “An Elderly Lady,” which is translated by Marlaine Delargy, is any indication, I want to see more of these stories, and as soon as possible. Maud, an octogenarian whose dark acts are an attempt to make the world a better place, is faintly reminiscent of Patricia Highsmith’s Mr. Ripley, though more likable. At least she is in this tale, as she delivers a late Christmas present to a neighbor with whom she has barely spoken but who desperately needs some Christmas cheer.

Next up is Stuart Neville’s “Queen of the Hill.” If you are at all familiar with his Belfast noir, you know that it doesn’t get any darker than that, and Neville certainly doesn’t disappoint with this story of a somewhat hapless low-level criminal in love who, during the holidays, tries to play both ends with the intent of also getting the middle, but gets in much deeper than the shallow water he is barely capable of handling. A similar tale of an emissary being caught in adverse circumstances can be found in “The Prince (of Peace)” by Gary Corby, a historical piece involving Niccolò Machiavelli, Cesare Borgia, and an upwardly mobile lieutenant who is not above utilizing assassination to acquire the Renaissance equivalent of a corner’s office.

Meanwhile, it would not be a Soho Crime anthology without an offering from Lene Kaaberbøl and Agnete Friis, whose “When the Time Came” is a winner. This suspenseful tale (translated by Mark Kline) features, as one might expect, Nina Borg, the Danish Red Cross nurse whose nature and nurture often get involved in difficulties. The story is a (very) modern retelling of the Nativity, played out in the middle of two crimes --- one major, one minor.

There is no “best” in THE USUAL SANTAS. Each and every tale has something to recommend it. There are stories that have stuck with me, though. After reading “Chalee’s Nativity,” Timothy Hallinan’s story of two orphans on the streets of Bangkok at Christmas, I have decided that I will never complain about anything ever again. It is a classic, pure and simple, one that should stand next to O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi” and, if I dare say so, is much more subtle than that worthy tale. It is worth buying the book for that reason alone. Mick Herron’s story, after which this collection is named, is an amusement, and a wonderful one at that, as a group of shopping mall Santas discover while celebrating the season’s end of their duties that they have a benevolent interloper in their midst...or is he an interloper at all? Meanwhile, Colin Cotterill’s “There’s Only One Father Christmas, Right?” demonstrates conclusively that even at Christmas, no good deed goes unpunished, particularly when coupled with a bad act, however well intended.

I’d like to go on, but I hope you get the idea. There are also outstanding stories by Martin Limón, Teresa Dovalpage, Mette Ivie Harrison, Ed Lin, Tod Goldberg, Henry Chang, James R. Benn, Sujata Massey, Stephanie Barron, and a new addition to the Sherlock Holmes canon by Cara Black. Oh, and I forgot to mention Peter Lovesey. In addition to providing the foreword (and, I suspect, handling editing duties), his “Supper with Miss Shivers” closes the collection. It’s a short tale about a married couple who receives an unexpected holiday dinner invitation from a stranger and is given a gift for the ages. The story is memorable on its own merits and, in the last sentence, inadvertently (or perhaps deliberately) describes the entirety of THE USUAL SANTAS better than I have, or could, in several paragraphs.