’Tis the season of giving—and with this wonderful book, New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry shares a brand-new holiday mystery filled with bygone relationships and hidden secrets. As Charlotte Pitt’s grandmother Mariah Ellison finds herself investigating a long-unsolved slaying, it becomes clear that grappling with intrigue and foul play runs in the family. A festive Christmas package … festive Christmas package left on Mariah’s doorstep contains an ominous present, sparking memories of a twenty-year-old murder that shattered her friendship with the victim’s widow. Though the gift is a bitter reminder of that tragic time, in the spirit of the season Mariah travels to Surrey in hopes of reconciling with her estranged friend and solving the crime that drove them apart.
On arrival, Mariah joins forces with the murdered man’s grandson, a sleuth in his own right who’s discovered promising evidence as well as a suspect. But Surrey’s picturesque hills conceal dark doings and shocking revelations that could make the holiday anything but calm and bright.
Decked with intrigue and trimmed with Yuletide spirit, A Christmas Return is a holiday treat wrapped in the glorious storytelling talents of the reigning master of Victorian mystery.
Praise for A Christmas Return
“This compact little gem, [Anne] Perry’s fifteenth Christmas novella, demonstrates her proficiency in writing Victorian-set mysteries. . . . The atmosphere of close-knit village life in the 1890s feels pitch-perfect, from the homeliness of residents’ holiday decor to the gossip that spreads like a dreadful stain. The characterization is superb, and the work’s short length is perfect for the material. The spirit of the Christmas season is cleverly evoked through the underlying theme that it’s never too late for reconciliations and second chances.”—Historical Novels Review (Editors’ Choice)
“Perry’s many fans will enjoy another winning Victorian-era mystery set during the holidays.”—Library Journal
“Exceptional . . . Perry unobtrusively incorporates insights about the true meaning of the season into the engrossing plot.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
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This lovely novella is loosely related to the Charlotte and Thomas series. Thomas nor Charlotte makes an appearance in this novella, but they are mentioned. It definitely made me realize that I am woefully behind in that series. Evidently, a lot of family changes have transpired since I last read one of the books in the series. I’m thinking I need to go catch up!
The only real relationship this novel has to Christmas is that it is set at Christmas time. However, it is also a novel of justice, growth, self-knowledge, and renewal. The main characters were good friends twenty years ago when a tragic death tore them apart. Can that friendship be renewed and can a twenty-year-old murder be solved? Seeing Mariah’s growth, understanding and self-forgiveness is a delight.
Mariah Ellison is Charlotte Pitt’s paternal grandmother. She has always been a curmudgeon – well, not just a curmudgeon because she was mean, spiteful and hateful. In this novella, we learn about her early life and basically what made her who she is today. It is nice to see that a genuinely nice and caring person appears to be emerging.
Twenty years ago, in a small English village, a fourteen-year-old girl was abducted, raped, tortured and murdered. Mariah’s friend, Cullen, an honest, ethical lawyer was set to represent the accused, Dr. Durward. Then, after a visit to another village a number of miles away, Cullen told the defendant he could no longer represent him. The next day, Cullen was murdered, and rumors were spread about his wife, Rowena, having murdered him. Dr. Durward was later tried and found not guilty of the girl’s murder and nothing ever happened with the murder of Mariah’s friend.
Today, that defendant is back in town stirring up trouble for Rowena and her grandson, Peter and also impugning Cullen’s name. Peter sends a desperate message to Mariah for help and the next day she’s on a train determined to help however she can – and to mend a torn friendship with Rowena. The last Mariah saw Peter, he was only ten years old. He has now grown into a man who remembers her with great affection and respect.
Mariah and Peter work hard to solve the murder and bring the killer to justice. Mariah’s unique understanding of someone who is as dark as this murderer allows them to take avenue’s that would not normally have been looked into. There is a short time to be able to find the killer and bring him to justice. Can they do it? If the murderer is really Dr. Durward, he cannot be tried again, so what can they do?
This is an entertaining short read and if you have read the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt books, you will greatly appreciate Mariah’s metamorphosis. She’s still a work in progress, but she’s growing every day.
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“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”
It’s like a Christmas tradition now for me to grab the latest release in Anne Perry’s Christmas Stories series. Each year for the last fifteen years, the author has gifted her fans with a Christmas themed mystery for a minor character from one of her Victorian era detective series (Thomas Pitt or William Monk series) to solve.
This year, it’s Thomas Pitt’s irascible grandmother in law, Mariah Ellison who gets to help bring justice for many when she travels back to an old friend’s house and twenty years into the past to dig up the truth. The hunt for the truth dredges up dreadful memories from her own past that she must shake out and deal with so she can do what she does best- stubbornly bully her way to the answers.
As with most of Perry’s work, the past is meticulously drawn and the social issues of the day addressed alongside the mystery. Mariah was a physically and sexually abused wife and had no recourse in her day because women were considered legal chattel to their husbands. Other women in the story are threatened with loss of reputation based on a whiff of scandal perpetrated by the villain.
The mystery is not difficult in the sense of trouble figuring out the culprit so much as gathering the evidence that will finally deal him his just desserts. Mariah was quite the crusader for justice and she does not let her own feelings or fears get in her way of confronting the rapist and killer. I did find myself a tad disappointed because the story had to be condensed, and unlike the longer series, the reader isn’t given much of the killer’s background or some of the explanation behind his crimes. There also could have been a bit more closure between Mariah and those she came to help as well.
But that said, this was an engaging story of murder, revenge, and justice for the Yuletide. Fans of historical mysteries should take a look at either of the author’s long running series.
If you’re looking for a Christmas read, keep looking. While most Christmas books can happen any time of the year, it is especially true of this one. Most of the action did take place around Christmas, but in my opinion, it added nothing to the story. It is an interesting mystery that Mariah Ellison tries to solve to clear the name of a dear friend. This is not a “page turner”. But it is a good book.
An older widow turned an impossible past using friends help.
I won a copy of this book from Goodreads. I am not required to give a favorable review. This was a very interesting read. I have read other books from Anne and found it one has just enough intrigue in them to make you try to figure out the truth in the whole story. This one brings people from books past to help each other. And to right 3 wrongs that happened over a 25 year period and the holidays brings it all to a wonderful end.
4 and 1 / 2 stars
Grandmother Mariah Ellison receives a strange gift by post. It is a cannon ball wrapped in a pudding. This brings back old memories of twenty years earlier. Cullen Wesley was murdered. This crime was committed and it drove a wedge between two former friends, the victim’s wife Rowena and Mariah.
She then receives a card from Peter Wesley, the grandchild of the murdered man begging for her help. Of course she’ll go. Mariah hopes to heal the rife between her and Rowena and return to being friends once more.
It seems a man named Duward who was acquitted of the murder of fourteen-year old Christina has returned to the village. Ostensibly to further prove his innocence (for there are some who didn’t agree with the verdict), and to find out who really did kill the young girl.
After meeting Peter, they set about planning their strategy. It appears as though Peter has a suspect in mind already. Meanwhile some people are suggesting that Rowena was responsible for the death of her husband. Determined to prove her innocence, Mariah sets about to do just that. Peter and Mariah discover that Duward has not been honest and he was involved in blackmail.
In an exciting conclusion the truth is revealed and the rift between the two women is healed. A lovely Christmas gift.
This book is well written and plotted, as are all of Anne Perry’s novels. Ms. Perry’s writing is engaging, easy-to-read and flows nicely. I enjoyed the story and reading my first Mariah Ellison book. I’ve read Ms. Perry’s other novels, but this is my first Mariah Ellison book.
I want to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine for forwarding to me a copy of this delightful and easily read book for me to enjoy.
I always look forward to Anne Perry’s Christmas novellas, one because of Perry’s Christmas settings and two, because I am curious as to which minor character from her Pitt or Monk series will be the main character in the novella.
I never did like Edward but having an understanding as to what kind of house in which he came of age helps us understand him more. Until this story, I really didn’t care for Mariah, either, but seeing as she wishes to change from the bitter person Perry introduced us to in the very first Charlotte and Thomas Pitt story, I too have had a change of heart regarding Mariah. There were several “a-ha” moments. I also liked the references to The Cater Street Hangman, to Sarah, Emily, and Charlotte, and her self-realization that she was wrong about Thomas Pitt. Since Mariah was featured more prominently in a main Charlotte & Thomas Pitt novel, now that we know Mariah’s story, I wonder if we will see her in other Pitt mysteries?
Since 2003, these Christmas novellas are a gift for readers of Perry’s Pitt and Monk novels; they are definitely not for readers who have not read several
stories within each series. The novellas are the “backstory” of a minor character mentioned a few times throughout many of the main mysteries, or sometimes only referenced once, and a new reader will not understand the novella’s backstory and therefore, have little appreciation or understanding of what is the Christmas novella’s meaning.
Always enjoy Anne Perry and love how she pulls her more minor characters out for the Christmas stories.