A Christmas Secret: A Novel (The Christmas Stories) [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

Anne Perry (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Christmas Stories | Publication Date: November 7, 2006

Just in time for the holidays, Anne Perry gives her fans a marvelous gift: a new yuletide yarn full of light celebration and dark mischief.

Dominic Corde is thrilled to “fill the robe” as substitute vicar in the village of Cottisham, while the Reverend Wynter is away on a three-week Christmas holiday. Glad to escape his dreary London flat and a less-than-satisfying job as church curate, Dominic and his beloved wife, Clarice, set off for what they hope will be a lovely winter getaway.

Upon arrival, in the midst of a frigid, exceptionally snowy season, Dominic and Clarice are welcomed by warm, hospitable neighbors and enchanted by the cozy, inviting vicarage. Everything seems almost too perfect. Dominic’s only concern is how he will be received by the congregation, who hold the Reverend Wynter in such high regard. But as Clarice soon discovers, she and Dominic have much more dire matters to worry about. It turns out that the Reverend Wynter isn’t on holiday at all–and that something very sinister has transpired.

As a blizzard leaves Cottisham treacherously snowbound and the isolated village swirls with unsavory secrets, Dominic and Clarice suddenly find themselves in deadly danger.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Perry's latest short Christmas novel is a well-written if unsurprising period mystery, set in late 19th-century England. Reverend Dominic Corde and his wife, Clarice, are at a turning point in their lives; a chance opportunity has given Dominic the temporary position as vicar of a small village in Oxfordshire, substituting for the incumbent, Reverend Wynter. Their hopes that the position might become permanent are both enhanced and threatened when Clarice discovers Wynter's murdered corpse in the cellar. The resolution is not particularly complicated, but Perry does a nice job of weaving in themes of forgiveness and redemption without being heavy-handed. (Dec.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Dominic and Clarice Corde, minor characters who fell in love in Perry's Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novel Brunswick Gardens (1998), are called to the small village of Cottisham in Oxfordshire, where Dominic is to replace Reverend Wynter, who unexpectedly went on holiday right before Christmas. While fetching coal from the cellar, Clarice discovers the vicar's body in the second cellar. Some holiday. Although the local doctor says Wynter died of natural causes, Clarice and Dominic don't agree and begin their own investigation as snow blankets the village. What secrets did Wynter know that may have caused his death? Along with rummaging about in the villagers' closets in search of a motive, the sleuths also deal with Dominic's lack of confidence in his abilities to minister to his flock this Christmas season. Engaging characters, a vivid sense of time and place, and a cozy setting add enjoyment to this Victorian mystery. Sue O'Brien
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 198 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1st edition (November 7, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345485815
• ISBN-13: 978-0345485816
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1 x 7.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #889,851 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Anne Perry is the bestselling author of two acclaimed series set in Victorian England: the William Monk novels, including Dark Assassin and The Shifting Tide, and the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels, including The Cater Street Hangman, Calandar Square, Buckingham Palace Gardens and Long Spoon Lane. She is also the author of the World War I novels No Graves As Yet, Shoulder the Sky, Angels in the Gloom, At Some Disputed Barricade, and We Shall Not Sleep, as well as six holiday novels, most recently A Christmas Grace. Anne Perry lives in Scotland.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a very good read, November 15, 2006

By 

tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Christmas Secret: A Novel (The Christmas Stories) (Hardcover)

I've become quite fond of Anne Perry's Christmas novellas in spite of the fact that they're not always as compelling or as thought provoking as her Pitt or her Monk series. True, they are extremely well written (or at least I find them to be so), and possess many of the quality traits that you'd find in her other novels -- good period detail, thoughtful storylines and good character developments. And indeed I thought that her previous Christmas novella, "A Christmas Guest" was really quite stella and the best of the lot so far. So that while I still think that "A Christmas Guest" is the best Christmas novella Anne Perry has written to date, I did think that "A Christmas Secret" was a very engaging and satisfying read. It may not be the most suspenseful or most intriguing read of the month, but I enjoyed it nevertheless and can definitely recommend as a good read.

"A Christmas Secret" features Daniel Corde, Charlotte Pitt's brother-in-law, who has turned his back on his life of wealth and privilege, and who has taken orders, and his new wife, Clarice, as chief protagonists. Anne Perry fans may remember Daniel as the self-indulgent husband of Charlotte's eldest sister, who was brutally murdered in the first Thomas and Charlotte Pitt mystery, "The Cater Street Hangman." In "A Christmas Secret" Daniel is given the opportunity to escape the petty and critical gaze of his superior and to stand in for the vicar of the village of Cottisham, the Reverend Wynter, over the Christmas season. Knowing that his has enormous shoes to fill (Wynter is much beloved and revered by his parishioners), Daniel is, nevertheless, determined to do his best and to make as good an impression as possible. But when Daniel's clever wife, Clarice, makes a shocking discovery in the cellar, she and Daniel are confronted with the choice between doing the right and moral thing, and doing the prudent and safe thing. Suddenly the village of Cottisham is not as idyllic or as safe as it seems. However, Daniel and Clarice are determined to do the right thing, no matter the cost to themselves...

The mystery is not a very complex one; however, quite truthfully speaking, I don't really read Anne Perry's Christmas novellas for their depth and complexity of plot. I read them because they are so very engaging; because she uses minor characters from her series and gives new depths and dimensions to these characters, making them more accessible and understandable; and because of her good understanding of human foibles, frailties and nobility. "A Christmas Secret" may not exceed "A Christmas Guest" in excellence, but it was a wonderfully satisfying read nevertheless.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars another gift from Anne Perry, November 10, 2006

By 

ellen "ellen in atlanta" (Atlanta, Georgia USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: A Christmas Secret: A Novel (The Christmas Stories) (Hardcover)

Anne Perry writes a Christmas story each year - this offering features a young couple, Rev. Dominic and Clarice Corde who arrive at a village for Dominic to substitute for a cleric who has left abruptly. They are a loving couple want to do their best for each other, and do the best they can for their parish. When the 'vacationing' reverend is found dead in the cellar of the house, Clarice and Dominic set themselves to find out who murdered the rev.. It is a good whodunit, with the shades of the Victorian Era life. These Perry books feature members from the Monk and Pitt series - such as Lady Vespasia, Charlotte Pitt's mother, Henry Rathbone - now the Cordes (Daniel was Charlotte's brother-in-law whose wife (Charlotte's sister) was murdered in the first of the Pitt series, Cater Street Hangman. Pitt solved this murder.)
I read this book in one sitting. I am a fan of Perry's. and think this book will be enjoyed by all -

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Christmas Murder....., April 8, 2007

By 

Judy Brown Eyes (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Christmas Secret: A Novel (The Christmas Stories) (Hardcover)

I had not read any of Anne Perry's Christmas novels before this one, but I'm glad I chose this one to begin the series. True this novel is not long or complicated, but it is still very well written and has the usual Perry deft touch of period details, Victorian atmosphere, and character development. "A Christmas Secret" features Dominic Corde and his new wife, Clarice, as chief protagonists. Faithful Perry readers may remember Dominic from the first Perry novel, "The Crater Street Hangman." Dominic, Charlotte Pitt's former brother in law, has turned his back on wealth and priviledge and is now a Church of England Vicar. In "A Christmas Secret" Dominic is asked to substitute for the Vicar of Cottisham. The Reverend Wynter, much loved by his parishoners in the small village, has gone on vacation during the Christmas season. Dominic is determined to do his best for the parish and is struggling with his confidence in this new situation. While he is out getting visiting and getting to know his new parishoners, Clarice makes a shocking and horrifying discovery in the cellar.
Suddenly, Clarice and Dominic find that the village of Cottisham is not the nice quiet little village they thought it was. Dominic and Clarice, although horrified by the discovery, are determined to get to the bottom of the mystery and to uncover any dark secrets that led to the crime. The mystery is not difficult to solve, but Perry uses past characters from her books to give new depth and dimension to them. It's like meeting old friends again after a long absence. "A Christmas Secret" was a lovely Christmas gift to read for the holidays. A really nice touch in the novel comes at the end of the book, when Dominic Corde's gives his holiday sermon. He says, "The greatest Christmas gift is Hope, {which is} a way back from every mistake we have made, no matter how small or how large, how ugly or how incredibly stupid, or how shameful."