Anne Perry's Christmas Vigil - (Paperback)

About the Book

In these two holiday mysteries set in Victorian London, Christmas comes with a helping of magic--and murder. In A Christmas Promise, 13-year-old Gracie Phipps encounters eight-year-old Minnie Maude Mudway, freezing and alone. In A Christmas Odyseey, James Wentworth feels not joy but grief. His reckless son, Lucien, has been lured into a world of drugs and wild passion.

Book Synopsis

IN THESE TWO HOLIDAY MYSTERIES SET IN VICTORIAN LONDON, CHRISTMAS COMES WITH A HELPING OF MAGIC AND MURDER.

A CHRISTMAS PROMISE

Three days before Christmas, in London's East End, thirteen-year-old Gracie Phipps encounters eight-year-old Minnie Maude Mudway, freezing and alone. Only the day before, someone murdered Minnie Maude's Uncle Alf and made off with his rag-and-bones cart--as well as with Charlie, the beloved donkey who pulled it. Now, Grace and Minnie Maude set off to rescue Charlie. But the path that Uncle Alf had taken to his death was not his regular route, and in his cart, the children are told, was a dazzling golden casket that could very well be a Pandora's box of evil or a shining prize of hope.

A CHRISTMAS ODYSSEY

Ten days before Christmas, James Wentworth feels not joy but grief. His reckless son, Lucien, has been lured into a world of drugs and wild passion. Wentworth's only hope, he believes, is his old friend Henry Rathbone, who volunteers to search for the wayward young man with the help of two new companions--Squeaky Robinson, a reformed brothel-keeper, and Crow, a mysterious slum doctor. As this odd trio gathers clues about Lucien's disappearance on London's dark streets, they find themselves on a mission whose outcome they cannot begin to guess.

Review Quotes

"When Anne Perry writes her Christmas novels, it's almost as if Charles Dickens has come back from the grave to treat readers to another heartwarming holiday story."--Winston-Salem Journal

"Should be on the Christmas stocking list of anyone who likes a sniffle of nostalgia."--The Washington Times

"[Perry] writes with detail that invades the senses."--Lincoln Journal Star

About the Author

Anne Perry was the bestselling author of two acclaimed series set in Victorian England: the William Monk novels and the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels. She was also the author of a series featuring Charlotte and Thomas Pitt's son, Daniel, as well as the Elena Standish series; a series of five World War I novels; twenty-one holiday novels; and a historical novel, The Sheen on the Silk, set in the Byzantine Empire. Anne Perry died in 2023.