Synopses & Reviews
Whatever the season, a new novel by bestselling author Anne Perry is always a wonderful gift, but her holiday novels are particularly special treats, and A Christmas Beginning is a deeply felt story of passion and redemption.
Superintendent Runcorn of Scotland Yard is spending Christmas on the wild and beautiful island of Anglesey off the north coast of Wales. On one of his solitary strolls, the lonely bachelor stumbles upon a lifeless body in the village churchyard. The unfortunate victim is quickly identified as Olivia Costain, the local vicars younger sister.
In life, Olivia had been a free spirit, full of charm and grace. For Runcorn, she is a haunting reminder of Melisande Ewart, the one woman hes never been able to forget. Everyone on Anglesey is quick to insist that only a stranger to the island could have committed the heinous crime. But the evidence proves otherwise, and the unpopular work of discovering who among Olivias friends and neighbors–and numerous eligible suitors–is a ruthless killer falls to Runcorn. A plebian outsider in the drawing rooms of the snobbish local gentry, Runcorn never dreams that the key that will unlock the secrets of Olivias life and death may also, miraculously, open the door to a new future for himself.
About the Author
Anne Perry is the bestselling author of four earlier holiday novels–A Christmas Journey, A Christmas Visitor, A Christmas Guest, and A Christmas Secret–as well as two acclaimed series set in Victorian England–the William Monk novels and the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels–and five World War I novels. Anne Perry lives in Scotland. Visit her website at www.anneperry.net.