When Christmas Comes
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
A Wall Street Journal holiday gift book selection
A sleuthing English teacher will need a Christmas miracle to prove a condemned man innocent in this "terrific holiday-themed novel" (Publishers Weekly Starred Review) from Edgar Award-winner Andrew Klavan.
Colorful Christmas lights dapple the family homes in the idyllic lakeside town of Sweet Haven when Jennifer Dean, a young librarian at the local elementary school, is brutally murdered. There are witnesses and her boyfriend Travis Blake confesses to the crime… but something doesn’t quite add up. Blake is a third generation Army Ranger, awarded the Silver Star for his heroism in Afghanistan—how could a beloved son of this tight-knit burgh commit such a grisly deed?
As a community of military families a few miles down the road from an Army base, no one in Sweet Haven wants to investigate a war hero like Blake, not even the top brass at the police department. In steps Cameron Winter, a rugged and lonesome English professor haunted by the ghosts of his own Christmas past, whose former lover asks him to prove Blake innocent. The Sweet Haven murder reverberates in his mind, echoing a horrific yuletide memory from his youth, and Winter knows there are darker powers at play here than a simple domestic dispute. If he can solve this small-town mystery, just maybe he can find peace from his inner demons as well.
The thirty-sixth novel by two-time Edgar Award winner Andrew Klavan, When Christmas Comes is a seasonal tale of tradition, family, and murder; its chilling twists are best experienced curled up beside a burning Yule log.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
As the holiday season descends on the lakeside town of Sweet Haven, public defender Victoria Grossburger recruits her old friend English professor Cameron Winter, the protagonist of this spare, heartfelt crime novel from Edgar winner Klavan (Werewolf Cop), to try to clear Travis Blake, a third generation Army Ranger who's accused of murdering his girlfriend, Jennifer Dean, a beloved elementary school librarian. Victoria's biggest problem is the evidence, including a videotape of Travis lugging Jennifer's body from the murder site. Also, Travis has confessed to the crime. As Winter delves into the murder, he begins to suspect all is not what it seems in this tight-knit community of military veterans. In flashbacks, Klavan brings the victim to life, while sessions between Winter and his therapist, Margaret Whitaker, inform Winter's backstory and take on a fairy tale–like tone that adds to the darkness of the novel and the central crime. The core of the book, though, is Winter, whose voice and strength of character drive the story, particularly in the satisfying and exciting conclusion. This terrific holiday-themed novel will leave readers unsettled and hopeful at the same time. Correction: An earlier version of this review incorrectly stated the author had been a finalist for the Edgar award.
