Tales of Christmas, with an edge

If you’re looking for a cliché Christmas romance, you won’t find it here. What you will find are slightly edgy reads set in the season.

Christmas Under the Stars by Karen Swan OK, OK, so this one would qualify as romance, but it certainly isn’t cliché. The British writer has set her latest Christmas read in the Canadian Rockies — Meg and Mitch are about to get married when a huge storm hits. Meg is trapped in a log cabin with a wireless radio for company — through which she makes contact, but not with whom you’d expect.

The Mistletoe Murder & Other Stories by P.D. James For those missing the Queen of Crime, writer P.D. James, who died in 2014, here are four Christmastime murder stories — two of which feature a young Adam Dalgliesh — that were originally commis- sioned by newspapers and magazines. A lovely surprise for her fans.

Dying for Christmas by Tammy Cohen Disturbing psychological thrillers more your style? In this one, Jessica meets Dominic; she agrees to go home with him — only to be held captive as he unveils item after item from his past. You know: a box of teeth, his dead sister’s toy. A nice change of pace from the cheerful romantic holiday fare.

A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig This one’s more for the young-adult set, among whom Matt Haig ( The Radleys) is a favourite. The only present Nikolas, 11, gets on the much-anticipated day is a doll carved out of a turnip. Really. When his father goes missing, he has to travel to the North Pole to save him — of course, he has plenty of adventures along the way.