John A. and Marguerite E. W. (aliennightbird) reviewed A Christmas Beginning (The Christmas Stories) on + 40 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I enjoy Anne Perry's "Christmas" series. They are shorter than her regular novels, but pack the same emotional intensity, well-drawn scenes, deep human characters, and fine mysteries as her longer fiction. They also tend to feature people who were only background characters in her other series.
In this book, Rancorn (I am not sure if I spelled this right), Monk's arogant former police boss (from the early Victorian era series featuring Monk, a former police inspector with memory loss turned private investigator and his Crimea-War-ex-nurse-turned-private-and-hospital-nurse, strong, opionated, compassionate wife Hester Latterly). Rancorn, on vacation in one of the islands off the British coast runs into a aristrocratic unmarried woman, Millicent, who had the courage to defy her brothr and convention to help him solve a previous crime. She is engaged to marry a man for convenience sake to please her haughty brother. Rancorn also meets an island woman who he later finds murdered.
When he promises Millicent that he will help solve the crime, despite the contempt and lack of cooperation of her brother and her aristrocratic fiance who is also the island's police chief, Rancorn finds himself falling in love with Millicent. But, he is no gentleman. He is not wealthy. So, he feels that he can never show Millicent his feelings for her.
This book turned out to be my favorite of the Christmas series that I have read so far. I would recommend it.
Also, since this is a book on tape, I want to add that the actor who read the story was well chosen for his role. The recording was beautifully done.
In this book, Rancorn (I am not sure if I spelled this right), Monk's arogant former police boss (from the early Victorian era series featuring Monk, a former police inspector with memory loss turned private investigator and his Crimea-War-ex-nurse-turned-private-and-hospital-nurse, strong, opionated, compassionate wife Hester Latterly). Rancorn, on vacation in one of the islands off the British coast runs into a aristrocratic unmarried woman, Millicent, who had the courage to defy her brothr and convention to help him solve a previous crime. She is engaged to marry a man for convenience sake to please her haughty brother. Rancorn also meets an island woman who he later finds murdered.
When he promises Millicent that he will help solve the crime, despite the contempt and lack of cooperation of her brother and her aristrocratic fiance who is also the island's police chief, Rancorn finds himself falling in love with Millicent. But, he is no gentleman. He is not wealthy. So, he feels that he can never show Millicent his feelings for her.
This book turned out to be my favorite of the Christmas series that I have read so far. I would recommend it.
Also, since this is a book on tape, I want to add that the actor who read the story was well chosen for his role. The recording was beautifully done.
