The Christmas Guest: A classic country house murder for the festive season
£3.80
A TIMES THRILLER OF THE MONTH
From the Sunday Times bestselling author
‘TIS THE SEASON TO BE WARY
‘I just devoured this seasonal treat from Peter Swanson in a single sitting.’ MARK EDWARDS
‘The perfect novella. . . I was not prepared for the shocking revelation.’ 5* reader review
‘All the Christmas cheer & nostalgia wrapped in a gothic murder mystery. I loved it!’ 5* reader review
‘Filled with lots of twists. . . the perfect one sitting read.’ 5* reader review
‘A perfect small jewel of a story.’ 5* reader review
‘I GASPED at several of the reveals. Christmas magic mixed with a quaint murder mystery.’ 5* reader review
When Ashley Smith – a bright-eyed but lonely American studying in London – is invited to spend Christmas with her classmate’s family at their Cotswolds manor house, it seems like a perfect country idyll.
And for Ashley – who records it all in her diary – there’s the added romantic potential of her friend’s twin brother, Adam, who she thinks could be her wildest dream come true.
But is there something strange about the old house, both stately and rundown? What could the motives of the mysterious Chapman family be? And what holiday horrors might be lying in wait?
Praise for Peter Swanson:
‘Fiendishly good.’ Observer
‘One of the world’s best crime writers.’ MARK EDWARDS
‘Superb, elegant crime writing with more than a nod to the genre’s past.’ Daily Mail
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Additional information
| Publisher | Faber & Faber (26 Sept. 2023) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| File size | 3009 KB |
| Text-to-Speech | Enabled |
| Screen Reader | Supported |
| Enhanced typesetting | Enabled |
| X-Ray | Not Enabled |
| Word Wise | Enabled |
| Sticky notes | On Kindle Scribe |
| Print length | 111 pages |
by Teresa Tignola
When I started this book I had no idea in what kind of adventure I was embarking on. A story as strange as it is spectacular that transports us to modern-day London during the Christmas period.
We know very well how beautiful London becomes during Christmas, but this story doesn’t focus on the holidays but on a family and this person who they decide to invite for the holiday week.
Emma, nineteen-year-old daughter of the famous family, invites Ashley (one thing I found strange is that we discover the name of the second protagonist only at the end), who moved from California after her mother’s death, to spend the week with them in their mansion “Starvewood Hall”.
So far you must be saying “what’s wrong with that?”. Nothing, it would seem, but the reality is very different. Until shortly before the famous invitation the two didn’t even greet each other by mistake, not after Ashley kissed the boy Emma had a crush on.
Does it seem different enough now?
And what would you think if I also told you that it is a thriller?
Very worth reading. Some passages seemed a bit..too much, but in its entirety is definitely passable!
by Ashrae
We start in the present where a woman finds an old diary. She has bad memories of the year the diary covers. but just can’t stop herself from reading it… The diary takes us back to 1989 when an American student Ashley Smith is invited to spend Christmas with fellow student Emma Chapman at her family home. She accepts as she has nothing planned and no one else to spend the holiday with. It is there that she meets Emma’s twin brother Adam…
And so begins a spine tingling Gothic tale which tells of Ashley’s attraction to Adam and of a terrible thing that previously occurred that he is suspected of being involved with…
This is only a relatively short book, a novella, but it is the complete package. I always say that a book should only contain as many words as needed to get the story across to the reader and this book is the perfect length for the story being told. We start with a diary which means that we only get one person’s point of view for quite a long time. Which is always quite interesting and intriguing. And then, once that is over, finished abruptly – but then you’d expect that sort of thing from this author – we veer off into uncharted territory with a newspaper article which rocks the boat somewhat…
This threw me off course, but in a good way… Once I picked myself up, it was a veritable race to the end and the real truth… Which was both shocking and satisfying.
All in all, another winner from another of my go-to authors. Roll on next time… My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.
by Mrs AMHW
A great read. I could not have predicted how this twisted and turned. I will probably read it again now and enjoy it just as much as I’ll be spotting clues that I maybe should have picked up on first time!
by 1907
More of a novella than a novel, 20% of the e-book is a chapter taster for another of Peter Swanson’s books. The plot is as thin as the pages. Very poor value from Faber.
by Kristina Butts
Really enjoyed this book
by Katheryn T
The first half of The Christmas Guest unfolds through the diary of Ashley Smith, an American studying in London, who can’t believe her luck when she is invited to spend Christmas at her friend’s home, a manor house in the Cotswolds. Ashley jokes to her diary that it sounds like the beginning of a romance novel, or else maybe a murder mystery, but then she arrives and starts to feel as though she is actually living in a gothic thriller. As for the second half, you’ll have to read it yourself to find out.
The Christmas Guest is a slim novella, and I read it in one sitting. I enjoyed the short length, which is ideal for anyone looking to rack up their book count, but I would quite happily have read much more about these intriguing characters and their atmospheric setting. I liked that The Christmas Guest didn’t feel unfinished, despite its short length, wrapping up the story while also hinting at so much more beyond what is written. I especially liked the way the characters are developed in such a short space, their individuality and the hints at depth beneath the surface.
I found The Christmas Guest compulsively readable, and I always appreciate a book that has a twist I didn’t see coming. Diary entries don’t always work for me, but I enjoyed the way this one was written. If the ending had taken a slightly different turn, I think The Christmas Guest would have been a five-star read for me.
by Hannah Symonds
This is my second read by Peter Swanson and I was excited to start reading. This is a short story but my god it packs a punch. Ashley gets invited to stay with one of her class mates Emma for Christmas in Emma’s family manor house in the Cotswolds. Whilst Ashley is there she starts writing a diary to document what would of been a lonely Christmas by herself if Emma had not invited her. But things are not all as it seems and people may have some hidden agendas. I couldn’t believe the outcome of this story, it shocked me. There were many gasps and oh my god’s as I couldn’t believe how good a short story read was. I read it in a couple of hours and really felt the chills reading it.
by mckenzie
A good read.