Fannish 50: 2024: Everything is Murder edition: #49: Short stories

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

...I'm almost there!

I like short stories. I admire authors who excel at the format. I suppose most of my ficcing could be construed as short stories. In my humble opinion, I own the finest collection of Christmas murder mystery short story anthologies in English. But, like John in my ficlet, this Christmas I didn't read any :(




Title: A quiet read interrupted
Fandom: BBC Sherlock
Characters: Sherlock & John
Rating: Gen
Length: 200
Prompt: bitter
Summary: John wants a quiet afternoon to read.


John wasn’t bitter. Not at all.

He was settling down with a nice cup of tea and his favorite collection of Christmas murder mystery short stories a full seven days after Christmas because someone had been dragging him across London for the entire month of December, chasing after criminals, wrestling with criminals, getting kidnapped, getting rescued, trips to the Yard...

But now…a quiet afternoon to read…

Rapid footfall on the stairs filled John with dread.

“John.”

“No, Sherlock.”

“But it’s murder, John!”

“This is murder, too.” John pointed to his book. “I want this kind.”

“You can read on the train.”

“I can read in this chair.”

Sherlock sighed and produced from behind his back…

…a new collection of Christmas murder mystery short stories.

John glared.

Sherlock’s eyebrows jumped.

John pursed his lips.

Sherlock tilted his head.

John looked away.

Sherlock rocked back on his heels.

“Okay,” said John at last. He reached for the book, just as Sherlock yanked it back.

“Pack. I’ll give it to you on the train.”

John growled, but he dutifully, and somewhat apologetically, put his book in his hands back on the shelf and clomped upstairs.

It had better be a long train journey.



This is a challenge to post about 50 things I'm fannish about in 2024. I did the challenge in 2023 so to make it more interesting, in 2024, it's Everything is Murder edition. More info & to sign up here:https://alexcat.dreamwidth.org/1357645.html

The List (to date)

Fannish 50: 2024: #1: Jeeves & Wooster
Fannish 50: 2024: #2: Libraries
Fannish 50: 2024: #3: Facial Sheet Masks
Fannish 50: 2024: #4: Venom
Fannish 50: 2024: #5: jhope of BTS
Fannish 50: 2024: #6: the art of Edward Gorey
Fannish 50: 2024: #7: The works of Edgar Allan Poe
Fannish 50: 2024: #8: SUGA of BTS
Fannish 50: 2024: #9: Miss Marple - Agatha Christie
Fannish 50: 2024: #10: Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
Fannish 50: 2024: #11: Honkaku & shin honkaku detective fiction
Fannish 50: 2024: #12: Audiobooks
Fannish 50: 2024: #13: Holiday blend coffee
Fannish 50: 2024: #14: Jazz
Fannish 50: 2024: #15: Jigsaw puzzles
Fannish 50: 2024: #16: Sherlock Holmes
Fannish 50: 2024: #17: Poetry
Fannish 50: 2024: #18: Chocolate
Fannish 50: 2024: #19: Detective Matthew Venn series - Ann Cleeves
Fannish 50: 2024: #20: Tarot
Fannish 50: 2024: #21: Poirot - Agatha Christie
Fannish 50: 2024: #22: The ocean
Fannish 50: 2024: #23: Hardboiled detectives/noir
Fannish 50: 2024: #24: Tea
Fannish 50: 2024: #25: Bees & honey
Fannish 50: 2024: #26: Campion - Margery Allingham
Fannish 50: 2024: #27: The language of flowers
Fannish 50: 2024: #28: The moon
Fannish 50: 2024: #29: Gervase Fen detective series - Edmund Crispin
Fannish 50: 2024: #30: James Bond
Fannish 50: 2024: #31: Jungkook of BTS
Fannish 50: 2024: #32: Inspector Alleyn series - Ngaio Marsh
Fannish 50: 2024: #33: Collage materials
Fannish 50: 2024: #34: RM of BTS
Fannish 50: 2024: #35: Nanette Hayes mysteries - Charlotte Carter
Fannish 50: 2024: #36: Lord Peter Wimsey - Dorothy L. Sayers
Fannish 50: 2024: #37: Inspector Littlejohn series - George Bellairs
Fannish 50: 2024: #38: Jimin of BTS
Fannish 50: 2024: #39: Autumn
Fannish 50: 2024: #40: Halloween
Fannish 50: 2024: #41: Ghost stories of MR James
Fannish 50: 2024: #42: Christmas
Fannish 50: 2024: #43: Jin of BTS
Fannish 50: 2024: #44: Advent calendars
Fannish 50: 2024: #45: Snoopy
Fannish 50: 2024: #46: Inspector Rebus detective series- Ian Rankin
Fannish 50: 2024: #47: Scary movies
Fannish 50: 2024: #48: V of BTS
Fannish 50: 2024: #49: Short stories

Comments

[smallhobbit]

You won't be at all surprised to know I fully sympathise with John! Or that I've read the top four and have just bought the bottom one for next Christmas 📚🎄

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Ha, ha! Really? That's brilliant. The bottom one has the Stanley Ellin story which absolutely floored me when I read it.

Also, I feel like sometimes my ficlets and your icons are eerily similar.

[smallhobbit]

I should have said I bought it because I liked the look of it in your pile and now is a good time to buy cheap Christmas stories.

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Nice! We enable each other because you sponsored at least one of them.