A review by tobyyy
A Christmas Escape by Anne Perry

3.0

I picked this book up because I love Anne Perry's books, but somehow I'd not realized that she wrote Christmas novellas.

I have read some of Perry's books that feature Charles Latterly's sister, Hester, but it's been awhile since I read any of them, and my memory was a bit rusty. I think I would've enjoyed A Christmas Escape if I'd remembered events of previous novels featuring Hester (and Charles as a side character), since I didn't really remember why Charles believes that he's wasted his entire life. It was partially explained in this novella, but not very thoroughly.

Anyway. The story itself was fairly short, interesting, and although the mystery was figured out in the end, it felt as though the "whodunit" was rushed.

Spoiler

Also, it was never explained if Candace would receive the money that, through her grandmother, she was entitled to. Also, the way that Finbar trusted Charles enough to ask him to take care of Candace seemed to be a bit... bold? unreasonable? I don't know. Odd, for sure.

The character I really liked was Candace - I felt that Perry did an excellent job of describing a 14-year-old girl who is wise in some ways, whimsical and childlike in others. The parts where Candace was talking (whether out of turn or not) were my favorite portions of this book. :)

Would recommend for a short, not-very-Christmassy read.