Sorry, but there’s no partridge in a pear tree to be found here. In fact, this Christmas countdown might not leave you with too much festive spirit at all.

This time of year should be all about fun and laughter, shouldn’t it? About friends and family... Roaring fires, roast potatoes and red-nosed reindeer. And for most of us it is. But, as regular visitors to this site and viewers of Crime+Investigation will know only too well, evil doesn’t take a holiday.

Christmastime isn’t immune to crime. Murder doesn’t take a fortnight off at the end of December. In fact, some of the most shocking killings have happened over the Yuletide period down the years.

As we bring you our 12 Murders of Christmas, listen carefully. That noise you can hear in the background? It’s Slay bells…