The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories Read online

  Copyright

  This edition first published in the UK in 2016

  by Faber & Faber Ltd

  Bloomsbury House

  74–77 Great Russell Street

  London WC1B 3DA

  This ebook edition first published in 2016

  All rights reserved

  This selection © the Estate of P. D. James 2016

  ‘The Mistletoe Murder’ first published in the Daily Mail © P. D. James 1995

  ‘A Very Commonplace Murder’ first published by Clive Irving © P. D. James 1969

  ‘The Boxdale Inheritance’ first published in the Detection Club Anthology 1979 © P. D. James 1979

  ‘The Twelve Clues of Christmas’ first published in the Sunday Times © P. D. James 1996

  Preface (unabridged) first published in Murder in Triplicate © P. D. James 2001, the Estate of P. D. James 2016

  Foreword © Val McDermid 2016

  Design by Faber

  Jacket illustration by Angela Harding

  Author photograph © Graham Harrison / Rex Features

  The right of P. D. James to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

  This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly

  ISBN 978–0–571–33136–9