Stocking Stuffers for Mystery Lovers

by Julia Buckley

The Season of Giving is in full swing. While I'm not one of those who will join the throngs at malls or elbow my way to sales on "Black Friday," I do enjoy perusing the Net in the silence of my home to find unexpected joy gifts for those on my list. Perhaps you'll enjoy some of my finds enough to purchase them for your mystery-loving friends and family.

1. Just a few dollars will get you this fun bookmark from the Sherlock Holmes Museum Shop in London.

This fun site has all sorts of neat Holmes-related items that might please the Classical Mystery lover in your home (and of course there's no harm in getting the occasional stocking-stuffer for yourself, is there?).

The quotation is a classic Holmes paradox--something for Watson to ponder while Holmes's brain works overtime. And what a fun way to mark your non-Kindle reading of THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES!

2. If you're willing to spend more money, ZAZZLE has fun gifts for mystery lovers, like this Marple-inspired tee:

You can find the link here for this fun tee-shirt.

3. If you're a fan of the classics, how about this homage to Dostoevsky and his great work CRIME AND PUNISHMENT?

Click on the link to see all of the text behind the little Dostoevsky figure.

4. Jane Hornung's book THE MYSTERY LOVER'S BOOK OF QUOTATIONS was published in 1989 (and I bought it then), but it's still a nice gift for a mystery lover.

It has many terrific quotes by mystery authors and mystery characters. You can read a sampling of the quotations in Neal Pollack's review on Amazon.

5. Check out the Edward Gorey store for some of his mysterious art. You can stuff a stocking with one of his castle notepads for only seven dollars!

I have so many happy memories of PBS Mystery and the wonderful Gorey art in the opening credits that I feel happy every time I look at some of this man's great creations.

6. How about a classic mystery DVD? On Amazon, you can get Hitchcock's DIAL M FOR MURDER for as low as 9 dollars!

That seems like a steal for such a well-crafted mystery--a cinematic Christmas feast.

Even if you don't like these gifts, you might enjoy browsing the sites to which I sent you. Shopping online has many advantages for a crowd-avoiding shopper like me--but aside from the lack of crowds, there is so much more shelf space in the virtual world, and that's why you might find treasures that they can't carry in a store.

Happy Shopping, and happy mysteries.