Perry, Anne – A CHRISTMAS SECRET

[LJ Roberts]

A CHRISTMAS SECRET (Historical-England-1800s) – VG
Perry, Anne – 4^th Christmas standalone
Headline, 2006- Amer Hardcover

Dominic Corde, brother-in-law to Charlotte Pitt, has left banking, is married to Clarice and is a cleric in a church in London. However, Dominic and Clarice have sent to a small town to fill in for a much-beloved vicar during his Christmas holiday. They soon discover the vicar did not leave town after all.

Perry’s Christmas novellas are wonderful little gifts. I love that she takes the secondary characters from her main series and gives them a platform and personalities of their own and then creating distinctive supporting characters, each with their own weaknesses and foibles, around them. Perry is unsurpassed in taking her readers into the time and place of the story. As a mystery, it is light, but that doesn’t matter to me. What I most admire is that, while it is a Christmas story and deals with all the basic themes of love, charity, forgiveness, hope and honor. I never felt preached to, but felt instead the possibilities and strength of the human spirit.