A Christmas Return by Anne Perry

First Sentence: Christmas was just over a week away.

Mariah Ellison, grandmother to Charlotte Pitt, receives a package containing a reminder of a long-ago unsolved murder. Once friends with the victim’s wife, Mariah decides to travel to Surry to reconcile with her friend and, by teaming up with her friend’s grandson Peter, see if they can solve the 20-year-old crime.

Anne Perry has the voice of a true storyteller—“She stood up and walked to the outer door of her rooms, and all the way to the front hallway of the main house. … The walls were decorated with paintings of aristocrats from earlier centuries. In Mariah’s opinion, it was a good place to put them, far better than in one of the rooms where people actually spent time and would be obliged to look at them.” She is also good at including small observations along the way—“It made her see the poison of gossip.”

Even if one isn’t familiar with Mariah from the Pitt series of books, it is interesting to finally learn about her background and that which had originally made her so bitter and hard, and once knowing it, who could blame her. A common theme Perry uses is that of forgiveness and redemption, and that’s true here as well as we see a transformed Mariah trying to bring about those attributes for her friend. 

Peter is a delightful character. He is perfectly portrayed with both the audacity and loyalty of one his age.

“A Christmas Return” is a treat with Mariah being a true heroine who wins the day with inner strength, and by unconventional means.

A CHRISTMAS RETURN (His Mys-Mariah Ellison-Surrey, England-1800s) – G+
Perry, Anne – 15th Christmas Novella
Ballentine Books – Nov 2017