Poisoned mince pies. A Christmas Eve ghost story that comes suddenly, horribly true. A locked-room puzzle on a train steaming through the winter's night. All these, and many more, tales of mystery and malice await in Murder by Candlelight.

As the nights draw in and the old year slips away, these ten classic stories - from the greatest writers of the crime genre - will baffle your mind and chill your blood in equal measure. From a cunningly-disguised killer to a country house with a lethal secret, the mood might be festive ... but the motive is murder.