12 Days

Internet auctions are almost as addictive as internet gambling, and although I avoid the latter,I confess that I’m hooked on eBay. One of the joys of eBay is that you can stumble across things that you would never encounter in the shops, and it’s a virtual Aladdin’s Cave for people like me who enjoy picking up things that are quirky and a bit out of the ordinary.

In the past year or two, thanks to eBay, I’ve come across some unusual games with a detective-related theme, and this is probably an opportune time of year to mention some of the more obscure items. But today, because it’s topical, I’ll mention a book that I’d never heard of before until I came across it on eBay a couple of weeks ago– a signed copy of 12 Days, a collection of stories inspired by ‘the twelve days of Christmas,’ and edited by Shelley Silas.

They aren’t all detective stories, but the contributors include a number of good names from our genre – Val McDermid, who I mentioned the other day in connection with our chat about Crippen, Stella Duffy, Lauren Henderson and Jake Arnott. Anthologies with a coherent theme appeal to me and I’m looking forward to reading this one after the festivities are over.