Predictable but cozy, great for a one sit read. ( )

For more reviews and bookish posts visit: https://www.ManOfLaBook.com

The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson is a murder mystery book taking place in England. Mr. Swanson is a published, award-winning, mystery author.

An American art student, Ashley Smith, is spending Christmas alone in London when her classmate, Emma Chapman brings her as a guest to her country home, Starvewood Hall.

As it turns out, Adam, Emma’s brother, is under investigation for the brutal murder, however, a mysterious stranger haunts the woodlands area and Adam is not under suspicion. Adam is interested in Ashley, and the two spend much time in the local bar, but Ashley doesn’t realize that something more sinister is afoot.

This is a very short book, but it does create an eerie Christmas feeling. The author does a great job describing the cold, odd, old family manor which houses the cold, odd, old family.

The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson is told from the points of view, of Ashley, and that of Emma. However, Emma’s narrative starts when Ashley’s end to tell a complete story, and I felt that’s when the story got to be interesting.

I usually don’t care for books in which much of the first part of the story is done through a “dear diary” narrative. There are some exceptions, Dracula for example which I loved. The second part is a 180-degree turn and brings an unexpected twist that I enjoyed very much.

I would guess this is a Christmas book because it takes place during the season, however it could take place during any Christian holiday. The holiday is just a plot point to get lonely Ashley to visit Emma’s house, which could be any time off of school.
So, is it really a “Christmas” book?

I found the story engaging, but I’m glad it wasn’t longer. It took a long time for Ashley to tell her story but I didn’t feel invested in the character. Nevertheless, it was a dark, entertaining tale with several good twists.

If you like fun murder mysteries, combined with the holiday season this one is for you. And since it’s so short, it could be read in one sitting without missing all the festivities. ( )

I bought 'The Christmas Guest' for two reasons: to sample Peter Swanson's work and to have a good Christmas story to listen to in the car as my wife and I drove North to be with family. It exceeded my expectations on both counts. 

I love the way Peter Swanson writes: the clarity of the prose, the clever structure of the storytelling, the perfectly conjured settings and the believable characters. I'm now looking forward to reading his thriller, 'The Kind Worth Killing' later this year.

For me, 'The Christmas Guest' is an example of what a good, dark, Christmas story should be.

It takes place in two classic settings for Christmas stories, a Manhattan condo and an English country house. It starts in a present-day Christmas, with a woman in her thirties, who has chosen to spend the holiday alone in her apartment, again, deciding to do a bit of decluttering and coming across a handwritten journal that describes a much earlier Christmas, spent in an English country house, when she was a teenager, attending the Courtauld Institute of Art. The next part of the story is told through diary entries, describing how a young American girl gets to spend her first Christmas in rural England at the home of a fellow student. The tone of the storytelling changes as the young woman describes the almost overwhelming newness and strangeness of a Christmas spent in a big house in the woods. It darkens slowly and she observes some of the dark dynamics in the family and develops a sense of threat when she becomes aware that someone is lurking in the woods between the house and the village and that a young girl was recently killed in those woods.

I found both setting and the 'voices' through which they were told convincing and engaging. At the start of the story, I identified with the desire for solitude at Christmas and I smiled at the woman's pleasure in having an opportunity to declutter undisturbed. The shift to reading the decades-old diary entries gave a reflective, visiting the spirit of Christmas Past tone to the story that I enjoyed, as did moving from seeing the world through the eyes of a middle-aged woman settled into a solitary life through to a teenaged woman, abroad for the first time and open to everything the experience has to offer.

But there was much more to this story than some Christmas reminiscences. This is a dark tale, filled with life-threatening secrets and transgressions. Peter Swanson did a superb job in structuring and pacing his story to create a growing sense of threat while increasing my investment in the person threatened. 

Then came the twist that changed my understanding of everything and made the story richer and much darker. It wasn't a last-minute cheat of a twist. Peter Swanson had constructed the whole story around it. The twist drives the story to the very last page.

I ended the story deeply satisfied with the journey that Peter Swanson had taken me on. It was a Christmas gift in it's own right.

I recommend the audiobook version of 'The Christmas Guest' narrated by Esther Wane who did a splendid job of matching her narration to the shifting tones of the text. ( )

I liked it. An intriguing short story, with a touch of unreliable narrator that gets resolved halfway through. It's suspenseful and has a spooky atmosphere. ( )

In 2019 Manhattan, a woman is cleaning out her closets, and finds a diary written 30 years earlier. It is written by Ashley Smith, an American art student in London for her junior year. She is invited to her friend Emma's home for Christmas. The diary recounts how Ashley was invited by Emma, and how she falls for Adam, Emma's brother. But, there is a mystery around Adam-did he kill Joanna, the young woman that Ashley resembles?
Ashley's diary is at times funny and also an insight into what might happen. Now, 30 years later, the truth is revealed.
This short novella is perfect to read in one sitting, and a great little ghost story!
I have been a fan of Peter Swanson for years, this did not disappoint. ( )