This book combines three of my favorite things: Christmas, a cozy mystery, and history. In this case, Hannah and her suffragette Aunt Violet are spending the holiday at the home of Hannah's sister, Iris. Hannah is delighted to discover that her beau, Darius, is there. She's far less than excited when one of the guests is found murdered. Christmas is about to take a backseat to a murder investigation. Some of the classic holiday tropes are there, like being snowed in, a not particularly experienced investigator, family tensions, eccentric family members, romance, and, oh, yes, there's a war on. This is Christmas, 1916. One of the guests, in fact, is home on leave, suffering from what we'd today call PTSD, an unexpected topic and the reasons for it. And, oh, I almost forgot, not only are there missing gems, but besides related children, there's a cat on hand, too, as well as some rowdy pups. The setting is beautifully described and sounds enchanting.
I won't detail the plot. I'll simply say it was intriguing to see author Davison weave in historical events and impacts to a probably typical family event. Well, typical for those with social status. Hannah has been on her own for a time, working in the London bookstore where I first met her, but finds it rather nice to be spoiled again....briefly. Aunt Violet's romantic interest, with his ties to Scotland Yard even makes an appearance. Seems neither Hannah nor Aunt Violet, not to mention Darius, are confident of the small town detective's investigative skills. By the way, make sure you read the historical note at the end for more info on what Darius' job involved and its importance to the war effort.
It was fun to see the interactions of these characters, including Hannah's parents, who we get to know better as the book goes along.Unfortunately, I found myself having a hard time sorting out and keeping track of the rest of the assembled cast. Although we got a bit of info on them as the story progressed, I never felt like I connected with them. Even at the end, sigh, I was still fuzzy on who was who and who was connected to who and why it mattered. Thus, I found myself largely focusing on the main cast, with a particular focus on what surprise Hannah and Darius had in store for the rest of the family. Nope. Not telling. Read the book. Honestly, even with my confusion over characters, I did enjoy the story and found the mystery nicely played with some unexpected twists. Thanks #BoldwoodBooks for this early peek at Christmas with Hannah and her family and friends. I'm definitely looking forward to what is next.
No comments:
Post a Comment