A Christmas Visitor
by Anne Perry
read by Terrence Hardiman
Blackstone Audio, 2006. 3 hours, 59 minutes.
Review written December 24, 2024, from a library eaudiobook.
Okay, here’s one last cozy Christmas mystery for this year. This is the second one written by Anne Perry. The sleuth in this book is the gentleman Henry Rathbone, a friend of William and Hester Monk from her Victorian mystery series. He’s the same main character as in A Christmas Odyssey, a book I decided not to review because it’s not really a cozy mystery, searching the “dark underbelly” of London for a friend’s long lost son, and contains some casual transphobia against the characters found there.
But this book has plenty of coziness and snow-covered landscapes to get you in a Christmas mood. Henry Rathbone is the title visitor, visiting a family of friends at their estate in the Lake District of England. But unfortunately, a few weeks before, Judah, the owner of the estate, was found dead after apparently trying to cross icy stepping stones late at night after his son’s recital. Judah was a judge, and meanwhile, a man recently freed after years in prison, is accusing Judah of wrongfully imprisoning him in order to buy his estate.
As the family gathers from far-flung corners of the earth, it’s left to Henry to break the news to Judah’s siblings, rather than leave it to his widow. It seems strange that Judah would have gone for that walk late at night, and no one believes the accusation for a moment, so there’s plenty to investigate, and we get time with the interesting family members at the same time.
I have clearly listened to too many Anne Perry Christmas mysteries this year – I’m starting to be annoyed by how they can be weak on actual proof of the crime, and that it’s just about figuring it out, which is often guesswork. But still, taking me to Victorian England in the snow at Christmas time is a nice way to honor the holiday.
Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Fiction/christmas_visitor.html
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