A Christmas Beginning, Anne Perry
A Christmas Beginning, Anne Perry
1 Rating(s)
List: $19.95 | Sale: $13.97
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A Christmas Beginning

Author: Anne Perry

Narrator: Terrence Hardiman

Unabridged: 4 hr 7 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/30/2007


Synopsis

Superintendent Runcorn—who Anne Perry fans will remember as William Monk's ex-boss—is feeling rather lonely during his holiday on the remote, snowy island of Anglesey, off the north coast of Wales. However, he is suddenly called into action when the sister of the local vicar is discovered murdered and draped over a gravestone in her brother's churchyard. Investigating this tragic crime with the assistance of the beautiful Melisande gives him just the opportunity he needs to spend time with an upper class woman who normally wouldn't give him the time of day. Interweaving the original Christmas story with her own holiday tale, Perry also explores the meaning of Joseph's secondary role compared to that of Mary and Jesus.

About Anne Perry

Sometimes the personal story of a particular author seems almost as intriguing as the books they write. Such is the life of British author Anne Perry (aka Juliet Marion Hulme). As a child Hulme was very ill with tuberculosis and ended up being fostered out by a family in the Caribbean. She did get better, and the family moved to a private island in New Zealand, where she describes her life as a Swiss family Robinson type existence. She became ill again and during her bouts of illness through her teen years, she missed most of her childhood education. However, her mother had prepared her by teaching her how to read and write by the time she was four. Her heart always seemed to be in writing.

At the age of 15, Juliet and her best friend plotted and killed her friend's mother. The three went for a walk in the park and Hulme dropped a stone, causing the mother to bend over to pick it up, and her friend hit her own mother on the head with a half brick. They had planned on the strike killing her, but they had to strike her 20 times before she was dead. The girls were put on trial and each served five years in prison. It is said that they never saw each other again after being released. For many years, nobody connected author Anne Perry as the teen murderer, Juliet Hulme. In 1994, the film Heavenly Creatures, portrayed Hulme and her friend Pauline Parker with characters being played by Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey respectively.

Perry's genre of writing covers Victorian Era Detective fiction for the most part. Her novels have been centered around two main characters, Thomas Pitt and William Monk. She has published 47 novels and several collections of stories.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Randy on July 30, 2018

Runcorn of Scotland Yard is spending Christmas on the island of Anglesey off the north coast of Wales. A woman is found--murdered. Runcorn finds himself investigating this case. I've enjoyed the books in this series. Characters are developed to deep levels. Olivia, the woman murdered, was full of charm......more

Goodreads review by Lindsay on December 15, 2017

Last December I was struggling to find a historical fiction novel that had a good mystery and involved Christmas in some form. Goodreads kept recommending Anne Perry, and I picked up a few of her novels at the local library. Sadly, there was always something that had me putting the books down by the......more

Goodreads review by Kav on November 30, 2021

This is the fourth in the Christmas Stories series that I've listened to now, and these Christmas novellas are my introduction to Anne Perry's work. This one was more melancholy then the others I have read and there isn't a true meaning of Christmas message at all which was a bit disappointing. This......more

Goodreads review by Valerie on December 13, 2019

Much like her early Thomas Pitt novels. Very Victorian, the investigation into the murder of a genteel young woman in Anglesey near Christmas is done by Inspector Runcorn, vacationing there from London. Much like Pitt, Runcorn is a sad middle aged man, who realizes during the investigation, how much......more

Goodreads review by Theresa on May 13, 2019

Inspector Runcorn is spending his Christmas holidays on Anglesey Island when he finds the body of a young woman on a walk. He battles both local superstition of outsiders and his own doubts as he works to solve the case. I found the prose convoluted and often tedious as the main character tested his......more


Quotes

“Perry manages to keep the seasonal charms of Victorian England and still solve the case. She also builds the plot around the Christmas story of Mary and Joseph in an unexpected and quite lovely way.” Globe and Mail (Toronto)

“Mystery author Perry returns to holiday fare and sends rumpled London policeman Runcorn to a lonely Welsh island for Christmas, where he gets pulled into the case of the murder of Olivia Costain, the town vicar’s lively single sister…Runcorn’s modest, unflashy ways carry this moody, understated mystery.” Publishers Weekly

“This leisurely paced murder features a perceptive look at class differences in Victorian England and an engagingly introspective hero forced to take stock of himself and the safe choices he has made in his life.” Booklist