A Christmas Secret

A delightful, gentle read to prepare you for Christmas. A crime novel in a traditional setting which apart from being a very good read evokes the spirit of Christmas as it used to be before global warming - snow, ice on ponds and big, cosy fires. Then there is the intrigue and secrets which can only belong to close knit village life. Anne Perry has put me in Christmas mood yet again and enthralled me with the reminder of Dominic Corde whom I last met in the Inspector Pitt novels. What more could a reader want? I have come to depend on her Christmas novellas - they are as much a part of my preparation as ordering the turkey.

a very good read (3/3 people found this helpful)

I've become quite fond of Anne Perry's Christmas novellas in spite of the fact that they're not always as compelling or as thought provoking as her Pitt or her Monk series. True, they are extremely well written (or at least I find them to be so), and possess many of the quality traits that you'd find in her other novels -- good period detail, thoughtful storylines and good character developments. And indeed I thought that her previous Christmas novella, A CHRISTMAS GUEST was really quite stella and the best of the lot so far. So that while I still think that A CHRSITMAS GUEST is the best Christmas novella Anne Perry has written to date, I did think that A CHRISTMAS SECRET was a very engaging and satisfying read. It may not be the most suspenseful or most intriguing read of the month, but I enjoyed it nevertheless and can definitely recommend as a good read.

A CHRISTMAS SECRET features Daniel Corde, Charlotte Pitt's brother-in-law, who has turned his back on his life of wealth and privilege, and who has taken orders, and his new wife, Clarice, as chief protagonists. Anne Perry fans may remember Daniel as the self-indulgent husband of Charlotte's eldest sister, who was brutally murdered in the first Thomas and Charlotte Pitt mystery, THE CATER STREET HANGMAN. In A CHRISTMAS SECRET Daniel is given the opportunity to escape the petty and critical gaze of his superior and to stand in for the vicar of the village of Cottisham, the Reverend Wynter, over the Christmas season. Knowing that his has enormous shoes to fill (Wynter is much beloved and revered by his parishioners), Daniel is, nevertheless, determined to do his best and to make as good an impression as possible. But when Daniel's clever wife, Clarice, makes a shocking discovery in the cellar, she and Daniel are confronted with the choice between doing the right and moral thing, and doing the prudent and safe thing. Suddenly the village of Cottisham is not as idyllic or as safe as it seems. However, Daniel and Clarice are determined to do the right thing, no matter the cost to themselves...

The mystery is not a very complex one; but then, quite truthfully speaking, I don't really read Anne Perry's Christmas novellas for their depth and complexity of plot. I read them because they are so very engaging; because she uses minor characters from her series and gives new depths and dimensions to these characters, making them more accessible and understandable; and because of her good understanding of human foibles, frailties and nobility. A CHRISTMAS SECRET may not exceed A CHRSITMAS GUEST in excellence, but it was a wonderfully satisfying read nevertheless.

Lovely (3/4 people found this helpful)

This is such a warming novel. The characters really shine amid the setting of a charming English village. A lovely mystery / love story. To get you in the festive mood, read this and the other Anne Perry Xmas books ( A Christmas Visitor / A Christmas Journey) or the very modern It's Cold Outside by Steve Horsfall.

Anne Perry

Reader Reviews:

Christmas past (1/1 people found this helpful)

a very good read (3/3 people found this helpful)

Lovely (3/4 people found this helpful)

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