Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Oct 2007
208 pages
Genre: Mysteries
Publication Information
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.
"Runcorn's modest, unflashy ways carry this moody, understated mystery. " - Publishers Weekly.
"The investigation is ill-paced, with repetitive rounds of questioning suddenly yielding climactic revelations for no good reason, and the murderer is negligible." - Kirkus Reviews.
"Unlike some of her previous Christmas tales, readers unfamiliar with Perry's mystery series may not be as drawn in." - Library Journal.
This information about A Christmas Beginning was first featured
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Diane M. Hinds
Anne Perry, born Juliet Marion Hulme in Blackheath, London, is the author of the Thomas Pitt series. Among Anne Perry's novels featuring Thomas and Charlotte Pitt are The Whitechapel Conspiracy, Half Moon Street, Bedford Square, Brunswick Gardens, and Ashworth Hall. She also wrote the popular novels featuring Victorian private investigator William Monk - among them, Funeral in Blue, Slaves of Obsession, The Twisted Root, A Breach of Promise, and The Silent Cry. "Her grasp of Victorian character and conscience still astonishes," said the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Perry won an Edgar award in 2000 with her short story "Heroes". The main character in the story features in an ambitious five-book series set during the First World War.
She died in April 2023, aged 84.
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