A Christmas Homecoming

So far, this is my favorite of Ms. Perry's Christmas books. I loved the descriptions of Joshua Fielding's company of players rehearsing an amateur production of Bram Stoker's Dracula, not to mention the characters' discussions of the symbolism in the novel. The scene where the missing body is found again is very effective. It's murder in a snowbound mansion -- no possibility of the old it must have been a stranger excuse.

Our amateur detective this time is Caroline Fielding, Charlotte and Emily's mother. She's definitely learned something from her daughters and her policeman son-in-law. Caroline may have lost her financial security and social respectability by marrying an actor 17 years her junior, but she's definitely better off than show more their rich host's wife, a nice lady stuck with a husband who refuses to let the interior decorating be changed from his mother's day. (Poor Eliza Netheridge's taste is quite different from what her mother-in-law's had been.) Miss Alice Netheridge, who has adapted the vampire novel into an amateur play, doesn't have much prospect of happiness with her pompous fiancé. Douglas has no desire for a wife who writes anything other than socially acceptable invitations and letters. My thought was that the best Christmas present Alice could receive is to be free of the twit. Could an opportune murder be the solution?

I'm not sure why 'homecoming' is part of the title, unless a. it's because some characters realize that home isn't really a particular building, b. some unpleasant chickens come home to roost, or c. some home truths get told. show less

I love Anne Perry's little Christmas novellas. In them we see some of the minor characters from both of her long-running series. In this one we have Caroline, Charlotte Pitt's intrepid mother. She and her husband Joshua are in Whitby, Yorkshire with some other members of Joshua's acting troupe. They are there to put on a private play from a script taken from the newly released Bram Stoker's Dracula. The year is 1897 and it's just a few days before Christmas. Things aren't going well with the rehearsals since the play is cumbersome and doesn't flow. The group is locked inside because a vicious winter storm is occurring outside. Then a stranger comes to call, and murder and mayhem follow. Even with all that, the book is a delight as all show more these little novellas are. Nothing puts me in the Christmas spirit more than my annual fix of one of Anne Perry's little Christmas stories. It is a tradition that I have grown to love. show less

I haven't read any of the Pitt mysteries by this author but this book features Charlotte's mother, Caroline. Caroline is married to an actor whose troupe is invited to Whitby for a private performance of a play written by a potential benefactor's daughter. The play is based on Bram Stoker's "Dracula".

A stranded traveller seeks hospitality when a snowstorm hits, but this traveller seems to understand acting and producing for the stage. Then he is found murdered.

Due to the snowstorm, the killer has to be someone already on the grounds--unless the traveller is a vampire who was invited in?

There are some good comments about good vs. evil. Evil needs to be invited in. And we recognize goodness because of evil.

In the style of Golden Age mysteries, the setting is a Victorian mansion where family and friends have gathered for Christmas. A young member of the family is presenting a play, an adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula for Christmas entertainment. While a snowstorm rages outside the inevitable happens inside. The story is slowed by much philosophical discussion about vampires and evil. Typical of Perry, a number of the characters are quite unlikeable, but all have resolute Victorian manners. This would have been better as a short story.

Charlotte Pitt's mother, Caroline, travels with her actor husband, Joshua, to the stately mansion of a wealthy theater patron. The man's daughter has written a stage adaptation of Bram Stoker's newly released, and already popular, Dracula. The script is awful but the acting troupe needs the money. Unexpected help comes from a stranger seeking shelter from the winter storm who seems to have an unusual interest in vampires and a knack for acting. With his suggestions, the play slowly improves until a dead body brings rehearsals - and Christmas - to a chilling halt. Clearly, a murderer is among them and, isolated by the snowstorm, Charlotte aims to do her law enforcement son-in-law proud by solving the crime.

Perry takes a risk, employing show more the device of a vampire story in a Christmas novel, but she uses Stoker's idea of 'inviting evil in' as a counterpoint to inviting love and goodness into one's life at Christmas. The device works well but the story would benefit from a more likely resolution. show less

Anne Perry, well-known mystery writer pens a Christmas mystery every year centering around a minor character from one of her series. This Christmas novella finds us with Caroline and Joshua Fielding, the mother and stepfather of Charlotte Pitt.

Joshua and actor has been invited to Whitby to perform a play written by a potential backer's young daughter. The play is an adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula. A major snowstorm dumps feet of snow in the area and the occupants of the Netheridge home are trapped right before Christmas. Need rehearsal, this causes no issues until a stranger who had also been stranded at the house, is found murdered with a stake through his heart.

What fun this mystery was especially since I was reading this for my show more December book club and in October we had read Dracula. It was so fun to see Dracula from another vantage point. show less

Phew! This one really had me! Christmas time with a bit of Bram Stoker's rendition of a vampire. I didn't expect that from Anne Perry. It was dark but it was good. ;)