A Christmas Visitor, Anne Perry
A Christmas Visitor, Anne Perry
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A Christmas Visitor

Author: Anne Perry

Narrator: Terrence Hardiman

Unabridged: 3 hr 58 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/15/2008


Synopsis

On the heels of the success of A Christmas Journey comes this festive mystery. The joyful tranquility of a snowbound estate in the Lake District of England is overturned in a moment by a shocking murder. Renowned mathematician and inventor Henry Rathbone—long known to readers of Perry's bestselling Victorian series featuring William Monk—must put his analytical and creative capacities to the test as he assumes the role of an amateur investigator. In this delightful Christmas tale, he rescues the holiday with a grace that would impress William Monk himself.

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 Jaline on December 25, 2017

A family’s estate and holdings come under peril when the investigation of a death begins to unravel an old court case that had been settled more than a decade previously. As the family gathers together for Christmas from the far corners of the world – Palestine, Africa, and the United States – there......more

Goodreads review by Mónica on November 04, 2019

Entretenida. Lo que más me ha gustado es la personalidad de la detective (alejado del cliché de hombre divorciado con vicios). en está ocasión quien resuelve el misterio de un asesinato es una anciana viuda gruñona.......more

Goodreads review by La pecera de Raquel on December 30, 2020

Una novela corta con una ambientación navideña donde los hermanos se reúnen por Navidad, y a raíz del fallecimiento de uno de ellos empiezan a sospechar que ha sido un asesinato, sin darte cuenta te arrastra al final, con muchísimas conjeturas por el camino, muy bien escrita pero fatalmente rematada......more

Goodreads review by Rebecca on December 30, 2010

Well, I'm not sure why this one is hailed as a Christmas story. It's about a murder, and spends an inordinate amount of time focusing on poor Henry Rathbone having to tell the victim's siblings, one by one, the bad news as they arrive for the holiday visit. The descriptions of the weather, the food,......more

Goodreads review by Lady Wesley on December 29, 2021

3.5 stars. This is an unusual Christmas story that isn’t very Christmasy until end. It is, though, an interesting mystery. The narration was okay, but I do get distracted when what I’m hearing conjures up an image of spittle flying. Isn’t there some kind of microphone cover or screen that is suppose......more


Quotes

“Anne Perry’s new Victorian thriller unspools deep in the English Lake District, shrouded in the gloom and chill of winter…Satisfyingly dark and suspenseful.” Entertainment Weekly

“Terrance Hardiman narrates this Victorian cozy with such aplomb that we know we’re listening to a powerful tale about forgiving the unforgivable and facing what we most fear. It takes a bitter test, he reminds us, to learn just how honorable we are.” AudioFile