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This is the ninth installment in the Christmas series of novellas that come out each Christmas and highlight one or more secondary characters from either the Monk or Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series. A Christmas Homecoming features Joshua and Caroline Fielding. Caroline is Charlotte Pitt's mother. Caroline had done the unthinkable in Victorian times to pursue a chance at love and happiness. She married an actor who is a Jew and 17 years her junior. When this all came out in the series, I really admired her. Now Caroline is the heroine in her own story. The story is one of those atmospheric who-dunnits where there is a snowed in group of people with a body and a murderer. It all begins when Joshua accepts the request of a rich man, Charles Netheridge, who has backed the troupe's plays before and they hope will back their spring production. The request is for them to come to his home in York near Whitby and act out his daughter's adaptation of Dracula. The troupe arrives and there are internal squabbles, but the biggest thing is that Alice's play is not anywhere near ready and they only have 9 days to get it there. On top of this, Alice's fiance resents her desire to write plays and be involved in theater. Joshua is stressed juggling the play re-writes, antagonistic players, and Alice's family. Caroline feels protective of Joshua and secretly wishes for Alice's success because Alice reminds her of Charlotte. Into this bumblebroth comes a stranger out of the storm. Anton Ballin settles into their midst with a vast knowledge of Vampire lore and theater experience with his past a great mystery. Soon the family and guests see the play coming together even while many begin to wonder if there is something in the legend of Dracula. It all comes to a head when a murdered body is found staked and then the body disappears. Caroline must draw on everything she has learned from listening to Thomas to help solve this mystery before blame is firming planted in the wrong direction. The overall plot was a fun romp with the Dracula legend producing the atmosphere as well as the storm shutting them all in together. The murder was almost secondary to the part of the plot swirling around the play and Alice's struggles between becoming a dutiful wife and doing what brings her joy. The pacing was slow during the first half of the story. I found the detail about putting together a stage production and the way Anne Perry has of getting into each of her character's heads about deep philosophical issues interesting, but I will acknowledge that the forward movement was great until the murder occurred. The characters were as usual Anne Perry's metier. I enjoyed getting to know Caroline even better and meeting the members of the Netheridge household along with the actors. My only complaint is I wanted more Joshua. I like him because he loves Caroline, but he was not prominent here. Overall, it was a nice cozy read that I enjoyed.Vollständige Rezension lesen