A Christmas Escape

Anyone looking for a historical Christmas mystery has come to the wrong place. Anne Perry has created a short, small predictable mystery but thrown in the whole Christmas thing as an afterthought. Nothing about this story screams Christmas except perhaps the last line. Charles has gone to a small island for the holidays to bask in the sun on the side of the volcano. Things take a dark turn when one of the men staying at the "hotel" (more like B & B) says that someone tried to kill him. As if things couldn't get anymore dangerous the volcano starts to grumble. Are they all in danger? Will the volcano blow? A quick read narrated beautifully by Steven Crossly.

I received this audiobook for free from Library Thing in return for my honest, unbiased opinion.

A Christmas Hope

Calling this a Christmas story is a bit of a stretch. It's pretty much a little Victorian murder mystery novel that just so happens to take place during the holiday season.

Claudine and her husband (he's awful, a total wanker) attend an ill fated Christmas party where an un-virtuous young lady (i.e. prostitute) is murdered on the terrace . Things like this simply do not happen at high society parties. Three young man who were on the terrace claim that the drunken welch poet beat her to death, but Claudine thinks otherwise. She briefly talked to the poet earlier in the evening and although he may have been drunk he certainly didn't seem like a killer. Claudine vows to get to the bottom of this and discover who really murdered the girl. Quite a Christmas story eh?

For fans of historical mystery novels.

I received this book for free from Library Thing in return for my honest, unbiased opinion.