Christmas Stalkings

The yuletide cheer and seasonal mayhem wrapped up in these 13 tales, tending to the cozy rather than the graphic side of mystery, make a package suitable for any reader's Christmas list. Dorothy Cannell tells how a woman foils a vengeful Santa in ``The January Sale Stowaway.'' With ``The Fabulous Nick'' Mickey Friedman spins her magic around a jolly old Claus who must clear a man jailed for jewel theft so that his son will stop throwing darts at Santa's picture. Evelyn E. Smith shares her sharp sense of humor and her series character in ``Miss Melville Rejoices,'' in which artist and assassin Miss Melville vows to rid the world of a sadistic dictator at a Christmas Eve party. Reginald Hill, Elizabeth Peters, Robert Barnard, Patricia Moyes, Eric Wright and MacLeod ( The Gladstone Bag ) herself are among other authors represented in this entertaining compilation. (Nov.)