A Christmas Legacy (#1,106) is Anne Perry's 2021 novella in this series. Here, Gracie, the Pitt's former maid, now married to a police inspector herself has a visitor just before Christmas. It's Millie, a young maid employed in a household where something is very wrong. She can't tell Gracie exactly what the problem is, but she trusts Gracie to find a solution.
Gracie misses the days when she used to assist Lady Pitt in solving cases with her husband Thomas, now head of Special Branch. She can take Millie's place for a short time to see if she can figure out what is going on. What she discovers is that an old woman is being kept in squalid conditions. How she takes action to right this cruelty is at the heart of this story.
Anne Perry's Christmas tales always have a strong moral message. It's comforting to read something these days in a season of giving that emphasizes that doing the right thing is the best thing in the end. I love reading these books, and I'm so glad I now have another under the tree waiting for me.
It helps to have read Anne Perry's Thomas and Charlotte Pitt Victorian mysteries, but it's not necessary. These timeless stories stand on their own very well.