A Christmas Secret
by Anne Perry
read by Terrence Hardiman
Blackstone Audio, 2006. 4 hours, 2 minutes.
Review written December 17, 2024, from a library eaudiobook
Years ago – It looks like it was in 2005 with A Christmas Guest, I discovered the fun of reading a cozy murder mystery for Christmas. It turns out there are now 21 in Anne Perry’s Christmas series of novellas, and this is the tenth one I’ve reviewed. I did some researching in Overdrive about the order and learned that this one is Number Four.
But – it’s not like the order matters within the Christmas series. Most of the novellas use characters from her other mysteries and give us a glimpse of how their lives turned out after the adventure that featured them, or in which they played a minor role. Sadly, usually this involves more murder! But they’re cozy murder mysteries – so there’s always a crime solved and lives taking a turn in a positive direction. And I truly enjoy the time with these characters – every time.
Every time I read one of these books, I resolve that I should read more of Anne Perry’s full-length mysteries. And you know what? With the help of Overdrive labeling the number of each book in each series, I just put two of her series openers on hold as audiobooks. So stay tuned, I may finally keep that resolution.
And that’s how I finally read A Christmas Secret. The last several years, I’ve fallen off reading the Christmas mysteries because I’m reading for the Cybils Awards or some other book award in December. But this year, I ran out of Cybils-nominated books in my category that the library has as eaudiobooks – so it dawned on me that I can catch up on some of the Anne Perry Christmas mysteries that I missed. A Christmas Secret is the first hold that came in, but you’ll be hearing about a few more.
I do feel like I need to let you know the characters, so if you have read Anne Perry’s other novels, you might recognize them. This one features Dominic and Clarice Corde, and it sounds like they met and fell in love when involved in a murder investigation. (This is a common situation in these books!) Dominic works as a curate in London, with an overbearing supervisor. So both of them are happy that he has gotten a chance to fill in as vicar in a small village while the regular vicar is on vacation. This is all happening in late nineteenth-century England, and all the expectations of a village vicar are resting on Dominic. He very much wants to prove himself and show that he’s worthy to be a vicar on his own.
But then Clarice discovers that the regular vicar didn’t go on vacation after all – when she finds his body in the cellar. So the rest of the book involves investigating why someone would have killed a man who seems to have been universally loved. But the vicar necessarily knows secrets, and yes, there are many secrets in the village.
The mystery part of this book seems more like stumbling on the answer rather than real detective work that the reader can follow along with – but it’s still a fun and cozy story, with a dash of danger at the end.
I also truly enjoyed the talk about Dominic’s Christmas sermon. He did want to prove himself, so it fits seamlessly into the story that we’re reminded that Christmas brings Hope to the world. This is a message I was happy to hear.
Like I always say, there’s nothing like a cozy murder mystery for Christmas!
Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Fiction/christmas_secret.html
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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.
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