Sophia Rose Reviews A Christmas Legacy by Anne Perry

 Today I welcome back Sophia Rose to the blog and she's got a very special treat today, she's reviewing Anne Perry's latest annual historical Christmas tale, A Christmas Legacy.
Merry Christmas!

A Christmas Legacy by Anne Perry

#19 Christmas Mysteries

Historical Mystery, Holiday Fiction

Publisher:  Ballantine Books

Published:  11.9.21

ASIN:  ‎ B08VSKGJG3

Pages:  192

Rating: 5

Format: eARC

Source:  Net Galley

Sellers: Amazon

ADD TO: GoodReads 

 

GoodReads Blurb:

Thomas and Charlotte Pitt's former maid takes a new job as Christmas approaches--but not everyone in the household may survive the holidays in this tension-filled novel from bestselling author Anne Perry.

After leaving her position with Charlotte and Thomas Pitt to get married, Gracie thought her days as a maid were behind her. But when her good friend's daughter, Millie, turns up on her doorstep just before the holidays, frantic because things are going missing from the kitchen in the household she serves, Gracie knows she has to find out what is happening. Millie, whose mother died years before, can't risk being accused of theft and getting thrown out on the street, with no character references for a new position.

So Gracie takes on Millie's job herself, claiming Millie is sick and needs a few days to recuperate. At first, it seems that all is normal in the household, even if the couple's elderly granny keeps entirely to her bedroom upstairs. But Gracie begins to realize that Granny is suffering from neglect--and rather than helping her, the husband and wife have decided she isn't dying fast enough.

 

Sophia Rose's Review:

A look in on Gracie and Tellman for the holidays when Gracie has a chance to solve a mystery that could change Christmas for a household experiencing fear and dread.  Each entry in Anne Perry’s Christmas mysteries put a bit of extra anticipatory sparkle on the holiday season.

 

A Christmas Legacy is the nineteenth Christmas mystery.  I suppose it could standalone for the current mystery and situation, but it did have a bigger impact on me because I knew Gracie and her husband as well as the off-page characters mentioned from the older Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series.

 

Gracie feels she must help the downtrodden and scared Millie who hints at something not being right in the household she is in service for and Gracie feels the only way she can help is the replace Millie and do some sleuthing of her own.  She didn’t know what was off, but she never imagined where this act of Christmas kindness to a friend’s child would lead.

 

While not a traditional murder mystery like her full-length books the novellas in this series provide mysteries more of the heart and themes of the season.  A Christmas Legacy is no exception.  Gracie eventually digs up an appalling situation and then gets to witness a Christmas miracle when matters are set to rights.  It was fascinating returning to Gracie’s below stairs world in a strange household and in so doing Anne Perry tackled the historical ills of elder abuse and servants utterly dependent for their homes and lives to the caprice of the households they served- and it wasn’t a matter of shopping for a good one when a good reference was like a golden ticket.

 

The plot and characters were thoroughly engaging and well developed.  I confess that Gracie and Tellman were favorite side characters so I was tickled to get this story that shared something of their home life and what they have been doing in the intervening years since Gracie left the Pitt household and Pitt left the police and went into Special Branch so Tellman wasn’t as present either.  Loved seeing them as a couple and parents.

 

All in all, it was a heartwarming Dickens-ish holiday mystery that engaged me completely.  I can highly recommend the author’s historical mysteries and this Christmas Mystery collection particularly this latest.

 

Author’s Bio:

Anne’s publishing career began with The Cater Street Hangman. Published in 1979, this was the first book in the series to feature the Victorian policeman Thomas Pitt and his well-born wife Charlotte. This is arguably the longest sustained crime series by a living writer. Murder on the Serpentine is the latest (32nd) in the series.  She has now started a series featuring their son Daniel, beginning with 21 Days (2017).

In 1990, Anne started a second series of detective novels with The Face of a Stranger. These are set about 35 years before and features the private detective William Monk and volatile nurse Hester Latterly. The most recent of these (24th in the series) is Dark Tide Rising.

Anne won an Edgar award in 2000 with her short story “Heroes”. The main character in the story features in an ambitious five-book series set during the First World War, which were published between 2003 and 2007. Anne is now working on more titles in the Pitt and Monk series, both of which are under option.

None of her books has ever been out of print, and they have received critical acclaim and huge popular success: over 26 million books are in print world-wide. Her books have appeared on bestseller lists in a number of foreign countries, where she has also had excellent reviews.   Her books regularly appear in the New York Times bestseller list, and have also been bestsellers in France, Germany and Canada.  The Times selected her as one of the “100 Masters of Crime”, and in 2015 she was awarded the Premio de Honor Aragón Negro.

Moving into a different area, Anne has responded to requests for workshops and teaching by producing her first ‘how to write’ instructional DVD “Put Your Heart On The Page: An Introduction To Writing” and her much-loved tote bags which also carry that slogan.  Both items are now available to buy direct from her website. “Developing Your Characters” is the third instalment in Anne’s instructional films.

Website:  https://anneperry.us/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/anneperrywriter

Sophia’s Bio:

Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, and gardening. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and Chocolate.

Sophia’s Social Media Links:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/sophia.rose.7587

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sophiarose1816

GoodReads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13418187.Sophia_Rose