A review by leighannsherwin
A New York Christmas by Anne Perry

4.0

Anne Perry's Christmas stories have been hit and miss for me. This one I can say is a hit, it had it's flaws but I still enjoyed reading it. Jemima Pitt, daughter of Thomas and Charlotte takes centre stage all grown up. For me this is a big jump as I am currently reading the Pitt series and Jemima is just a very young girl right now for me. But back to the story. Jemima travels to New York to act as a chaperon or companion to Delphinia (known as Phinnie) Cardew, who is about to marry Brent Allbright. Both families are wealthy and powerful and it will be the wedding of the century. Shortly after arriving, Jemima is enlisted by Harley Allbright, older brother of the groom to be to help find Phinnie's long lost mother. Phinnie was abandoned by her mother, Maria Cardew, when she was a baby and her future in laws fear a scandal should Maria turn up at the wedding. During their explorations of the city, Jemima is unfortunate enough to discover the body of Maria Cardew who has been murdered. Making matters worse, Jemima is accused of committing the murder herself and thrown in jail. As the story unfolds, we see Jemima decide that she will have to take matters into her own hands. Coming along to help her is young policemen Patrick Flannery, who also is determined to prove her innocence. While overall the book is very engaging and a sweet touching story, more a romance novel than a murder mystery, it was not perfect. For a novel with Christmas in the title there wasn't much about Christmas, or a feel for the spirit of the season, but I have actually found that to be true in most of Perry's Christmas novellas. The mystery was pretty obvious, though there was a sort of twist at the end. Overall though I did enjoy it and the ending left me wondering if perhaps Perry might be starting a new series soon.