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
I promised myself I would venture into this genre, but have yet to do so. A Christmas Legacy sounds delightful. I can see why you enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteHer books are fab and will be there when you get the chance. I loved starting these Christmas stories after I had read a few of both her Victorian mystery series.
DeleteFantastic review Sophia! I enjoyed this one too. I still have more of the middle ones to read but I've read all the first ones and this one.
ReplyDeleteAnne - Books of My Heart
You really went to town on the series for the earlier RAT. I anticipate having these each year for good holiday reading.
DeleteI am glad you enjoyed this one. I don't think that this author is for me though. Great review.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Carole! No worries, I totally respect your qualms about her.
DeleteXmas boks yay, I have read so few
ReplyDeleteI was in a big Christmas books mood through November, but lately, I've slowed down.
Delete