It's become a tradition for my husband to put a copy of Anne Perry's annual Christmas novel under the tree for me. This year it was A Christmas Vanishing (#1,192) which featured Chalotte Pitt's grandmother as the main character. It seems fitting that this is the last book I will blog on for 2023, as A Christmas Vanishing is Anne Perry's final holiday novel. She will be sorely missed in the coming years.
The reason her books had become a Christmas tradition was that these small novels always contained moral food for thought. Yes, sometimes all you want to do is go along for a mindless ride with a holiday romance or "feel good" book, but if you stop to ponder the true meaning behind the holiday, your soul yearns for more. Anne Perry's books always provided it.
Here, Mariah Ellison, Charlotte Pitt's grandmother from the popular mystery series, is invited to spend Christmas with an old acquaintance whom she hasn't seen for many years. But a stay in a quiet country village she is fond of seems just the ticket. The problem is that when Mariah arrives at Sadie Alsop's doorstep, her husband informs her that she is not at home, and that Mariah, despite being invited, is not welcome to stay.
Why would Sadie invite her, and then not be there to greet her? And where will Mariah stay for the night? Something is not right, and Mariah intends to get to the bottom of it. What she uncovers is a number of uncomfortable truths, not least about herself...
As always, Ms. Perry's holiday novel ends with a promise of hope.
I hope your New Year will bring many good things with it.
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