A Christmas Resolution (Christmas Novella 18)
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- £3.99
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- £3.99
Publisher Description
New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry's eighteenth enthralling Christmas novella.
When Celia Hooper discovers that her dear friend Clementine is to marry widower Seth Marlowe - a man with a sinister past - she calls upon her husband, Detective John Hooper of the Thames River Police, to help her find out what really happened to Seth's first wife several years ago. Rumour has it that she killed herself and Seth's daughter ran away to live on the streets but no one seems to know the truth.
Then Seth accuses Celia of sending him blackmail letters and it quickly becomes clear that she is not the only one trying to stop him from marrying Clementine. With Christmas fast approaching, lines are blurred, relationships are tested and the past won't stay buried for ever . . .
A Christmas Resolution is an enthralling festive mystery set in Victorian London from the pen of the New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in December 1872, bestseller Perry's talky 18th Christmas novel focuses on John Hooper of the Thames River Police and his new wife, Celia, last seen in 2018's Dark Tide Rising. Celia is distressed to learn that Clementine Appleby plans to wed Seth Marlowe, a prominent member of their church. Though the impoverished Clementine is grateful for the chance to make a respectable marriage, Celia finds Marlowe cruel and controlling. Marlowe, meanwhile, has been receiving anonymous letters that suggest he helped drive his first wife to suicide. Based only on a vague reference Celia once made to his wife's suicide, Marlowe irrationally concludes that Celia is their source, and he threatens to expose a secret that could damage both Hoopers if she remains friends with Clementine. John attempts to defuse Marlowe's threats and save Clementine from danger by taking a brief leave from the police to investigate Marlowe's past. A vicar who hides his love for Clementine adds some charm, and the novel's musings on faith and forgiveness suit the Christmas season, but the glut of rhetorical questions and lack of dramatic action weaken its appeal. Perry has done better.
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