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A Christmas Garland: A Novel (Christmas Stories #10)
by
Anne Perry
“An annual treat,” declared The Wall Street Journal of Anne Perry’s Victorian-era holiday mysteries. Now she continues this magnificent tradition with A Christmas Garland, a yuletide tale set in exotic India. This time the mistress of mystery tells the story of a terrible crime that sets the stage for another: accusing an innocent man of murder.
The year is 1857, soon aft...more
The year is 1857, soon aft...more
Hardcover, 208 pages
Published
October 30th 2012
by Ballantine Books
(first published October 1st 2012)
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These little books are a Christmas tradition for me. I read every book that Anne Perry writes. She is my favourite author, and I love all of them. I especially love these little Christmas gems. Each one is about a more minor character in either of Ms. Perry's Victorian series. This one is about Thomas Pitt's old boss Victor Narraway from the Thames River Police. Narraway is a young man of 20 during the time of this book. The book is set in India in 1857 and close to Christmas. That is is the yea...more
First Sentence: Lieutenant Victor Narraway walked across the square in the cool evening air.
Young Lt. Victor Narraway has been given the unenviable task of provide a defense for British medial orderly John Tallis. He is accused of being an accessory to murder. His guilt is based solely due to him being the only person whose whereabouts were unknown when a guard was brutally murdered and a prisoner escapes. Although Narraway isn’t encouraged to try very hard and is given very little time to inves...more
Young Lt. Victor Narraway has been given the unenviable task of provide a defense for British medial orderly John Tallis. He is accused of being an accessory to murder. His guilt is based solely due to him being the only person whose whereabouts were unknown when a guard was brutally murdered and a prisoner escapes. Although Narraway isn’t encouraged to try very hard and is given very little time to inves...more
Jan 10, 2013
Marilyn Fontane
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Anne Perry fans; mystery fans
Recommended to Marilyn by:
Previous Anne Perry Christmas novels.
Shelves:
anneperry
Every year Anne Perry writes a Christmas novel. These are a real treat for her fans because in each she takes an ongoing minor character and makes that person the protagonist in the Christmas novel. Thus, you not only get an excellent story, but you learn more about the personal life of one of the characters you have seen over and over again but not known in depth. In A Christmas Garland the character is Victor Narraway, Pitt's long time superior on the police force. But in this novel he is not...more
Memo to self: do NOT buy any more Anne Perry Christmas books.
I liked the first half-dozen, but the last couple suffered more and more from her increasing wordiness, repetition, and diffuseness, and this one wasn't worth the price. $10.00 for basically a novella, set in India and so thinly realised it cd. have been anywhere - except for the minor but irritating error of having tamarind leaves "rattle." I grew up with tamarind trees. They have tiny feathery leaves that sigh at the absolute utmost...more
I liked the first half-dozen, but the last couple suffered more and more from her increasing wordiness, repetition, and diffuseness, and this one wasn't worth the price. $10.00 for basically a novella, set in India and so thinly realised it cd. have been anywhere - except for the minor but irritating error of having tamarind leaves "rattle." I grew up with tamarind trees. They have tiny feathery leaves that sigh at the absolute utmost...more
In A Christmas Garland, Perry brings us to British occupied India during the 1857 rebellion. In December, a prisoner escapes, a soldier dies, and a young medic is charged with the crime. The hero, Lieutenant Victor Narraway, a young commissioned officer barely 20 years old, has been assigned to counsel the defendant.
At first glance, Narraway’s supervisors see the case as being an “open and shut.” The medic is guilty. Under orders to restore the morale of the troops, he must find a reason why the...more
At first glance, Narraway’s supervisors see the case as being an “open and shut.” The medic is guilty. Under orders to restore the morale of the troops, he must find a reason why the...more
I've been a fan of Anne Perry for a long time. She writes the most wonderful historical novels. Her William Monk mystery series remains my favourite. Although I have missed a few of her books over the years, I have never missed reading the annual Christmas novella she's been writing since 2003.
This year's book - A Christmas Garland - takes us to 1857 India. It is a few days before Christmas, but things are not peaceful in Cawnpore. The Indians are rebelling against the rule of the East India Co...more
This year's book - A Christmas Garland - takes us to 1857 India. It is a few days before Christmas, but things are not peaceful in Cawnpore. The Indians are rebelling against the rule of the East India Co...more
Young Victor Narraway has been assigned to defend an orderly against the charge of murdering a guard and allowing a criminal to go free. Because there is no one else who could have possibly committed the crime, and everyone in the regiment wants swift justice, the trial is merely a formality. But Narraway is determined to give the accused his best effort.
Anyone who is already a fan of Anne Perry's novels will recognize the character of Narraway. This stand-alone Christmas novel is set much earli...more
Anyone who is already a fan of Anne Perry's novels will recognize the character of Narraway. This stand-alone Christmas novel is set much earli...more
I have never before read an Anne Perry Christmas book, her Christmas books apparently a tradition over a period of years, but I picked this one up at the library because of its setting...India during the great Mutiny of 1857, also known at the Sepoy Mutiny. Having recently traveled in India, I find myself attracted to any and all books about the sub-continent. A short novel, it was certainly not a typical Christmas story but a murder mystery. In the midst of the mutiny, in Cawnpore, recovering f...more
Since I am usually drawn to Anne Perry's novels for her unparallelled ability to realistically portray Victorian London, I was a bit unsure as to whether I would appreciate the departure from her normal setting into one revolving around British occupied India. And yet, once I picked this book up, I was hard pressed to put it down.
'A Christmas Garland' is the story of Victor Narraway, a Lieutenant recently stationed in India who is called to defend John Tallis, an army surgeon accused of a traito...more
'A Christmas Garland' is the story of Victor Narraway, a Lieutenant recently stationed in India who is called to defend John Tallis, an army surgeon accused of a traito...more
Christmas will arrive soon but it doesn't feel like Christmas in India where a young Lieutenant must defend a Corporal who is being brought up on murder charges. The Corporal declares his innocence but everyone wants to set this murder behind them to relieve stress from the recent uprisings and murders of soldiers and their families. The Lieutenant is not a lawyer but he must defend the Corporal to the best of ability even if it only for show as everyone believes the man to be guilty. The Lieute...more
Another little Christmas gem by Anne Perry spun around the events set in the 1850s following the horrendous massacre of many during the siege of Cawnpore in India. The British military is depending on one young man to unravel a mystery, a thankless job, that can only point the way of restoring loyalty and the code of honor during the Christmastide. Lt. Victor Narraway is chosen to defend a medical orderly named John Tallis because Tallis is the only man unaccounted for his whereabouts during a b...more
A prisoner has escaped and murdered his guard and because of this a platoon has been massacred in British ruled India during the Indian mutiny.. Young Victor Narraway is assigned to defend the accused... the only evidence is he is the only one without an alibi so he had to do it... The previous few months in the unit have seen the horrible massacre and horrific mutilation of british prisoners who had given themselves up...Victor resolves to defend the accused to the best of his ability... no one...more
This novel is set in Cawnpore, India after the Siege of Cawnpore, 1857. A man is accused, by being the only man not accountable for, of allowing a prison break, and subsequent murder of further British deaths.
A young Lieutenant, Narraway, must try to defend John Tallis knowing that it is considered only a formality and that the judge has already determined his man's guilt.
In two days, Narraway has to recreate the actual break and re-interview all the persons connected. He meets the widows and ch...more
A young Lieutenant, Narraway, must try to defend John Tallis knowing that it is considered only a formality and that the judge has already determined his man's guilt.
In two days, Narraway has to recreate the actual break and re-interview all the persons connected. He meets the widows and ch...more
Don't let the cover photo (of a Christmas-decorated veranda overlooking a snow-covered scene) fool you--this book has almost nothing to do with Christmas. It takes place in India, shortly after the siege of Cawnpore during the Great Indian Rebellion of 1857. A young English officer is tasked with representing (at a military trial) a Sikh man who has been charged with murder and treason and is being railroaded toward his execution simply because he is the only person without an alibi. The story i...more
Thomas Pitt's Special Branch boss, Victor Narraway, wasn't always the head of Special Branch. Long ago and far away, he was a twenty-year-old British Army lieutenant in India during the Mutiny. As the youngest officer, and new to the unit he's now in, Lt. Narraway gets assigned a fairly nasty task: defending an Army medic charged with a horrible murder.
The medic was well-liked, but so was the guard who was killed. And this killing took place as part of the escape of a prisoner, who after escapin...more
The medic was well-liked, but so was the guard who was killed. And this killing took place as part of the escape of a prisoner, who after escapin...more
A different type of story than I was expecting! It's set in India in 1857 and is all about how a 20 year old solder,Victor Narraway, was asked to defend a man accused of setting free a prisioner who then went and told the rebels about where a patrol was going to be and the the whole patrol except for 1 was killed. The man accused of setting the prisioner free, John Tallis, was respected and loved medic and was accused because he was the only one who was working alone that day and could not be al...more
I look forward to Anne Perry's Christmas novels every year, and this one--set in the far-away land of India, during the uprising of India against British rule--is of utmost import, to defend an innocent man who has been accused of murder. Although no one else could have plausibly done it except this man, the assigned officer to the case goes about interviewing soldiers during a most emotionally-charged time, when nine of their compatriots have fallen because of this murder. Spoiler: Justice prev...more
A quickly read, entertaining Christmas novella, typical of Perry's Christmas books. In this installment, 20-year-old Lieutenant Victor Narraway is serving in India just after the uprising at Cawnpore. He is given two days to construct a defense for a soldier accused of betraying his fellow soldiers and killing a well-liked Indian soldier; there is no concrete evidence to prove the soldier guilty but he is the only person whose activities cannot be verified by another. Against all odds and thanks...more
This was a very good book to read around the holidays. It takes place in India, after a brutal attack against the English. A soldier is on trial for his life, and will be hanged before Christmas. Anne Perry is at top of her game here, while you go through the clues, and find what really happened, and who is really at fault. A little history, a little mystery..what could be better..with a cup of tea....great read!Plus it makes everyone involved re-evaluate the true meaning of Christmas, and their...more
3.5 Every year at Christmas time, Perry writes a novella featuring one of the characters from her books that doesn't ever really have a starring role, so to speak. In this book, she takes Victor Narraway, Pitts' old boss, and goes back many years to when he was only twenty, places him in India in the military, and has him ordered to defend a medic accused of murder. Have always like Narraway, found him very principled and intelligent. I think this may be a favorite of mine, at least as far as th...more
I love to read Christmas stories during the holiday season, and have always enjoyed Anne Perry. This book was a disappointment, as the characters were flat and the story not too interesting. The ending of the story was an ending out of Agatha Christie or Perry Mason, with the solution offered just before the condemned is carted away. Perry does focus on the problems of the uprisings in India in 1857, and hits upon the mixed feelings between the English and the Indian. This book was not as festiv...more
Every year bestselling author Anne Perry writes a holiday mystery, which I love. It’s like her holiday gift to those of us who love her Victorian mysteries. I thought it would be fun to include this year’s novel, A Christmas Garland, in our selection of holiday reviews. Normally when we think of holiday reads, we picture sweet heartwarming stories that, if not careful, can go leaping off the sentimental cliff. That’s not the case with Anne’s novels. Read the rest of my review at http://popcornre...more
My first Anne Perry & I'm disappointed because I read reviews that called her Christmas novels an annual treat. Premise was interesting - attempting to defend the innocence of a man accused because "no one else could have done it..."; historical setting unfamiliar but interesting to learn about. The link to Christmas was limited tho I wish we could have learned more about the developing relationship between the accused & the family of the fallen soldier. It seemed to take too long to unr...more
This is the tenth of Anne Perry's Christmas novels, not the best of them, but satisfying. As many others have pointed out, the main characters in these books are from the Pitt or Monk series so they have an appeal for her fans that is lost on a reader who is looking for a Christmas story. Although the context is Christmas, they are more about a personal redemption than anything else. I am a fan of Victorian novels since I read The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes as a young teen. Anne Perry is...more
Good historical novels are often set in awful historical situations. This mystery by Anne Perry is no different. The motivating question through this tale is: how do we retain or reassert our integrity in the midst of morally indefensible situations, negotiating the competing demands of duty and the heart? Lieutenant Victor Narraway joins his garrison, sorting through facts, which include his trauma scarred colleagues and superiors. Can an addition to the horror already inflicted be avoided?
What would Christmas be like without a new Anne Perry Christmas Mystery? It would be a lot harder to escape our modern day holiday craziness and lose ourselves in the Victorian era. This time, the story revolves around a military murder trial in India. Perry successfully creates a twist on the locked room mystery that leaves the reader guessing until the end. Forget about wrapping presents and settle back for an intriguing Christmas Mystery.
This is the first Anne Perry Christmas mystery I have read. It won't be my last. The perfect length and sentiment makes this the book equivalent of a much needed cocktail after a day of yuletide stress. Fans of Perry as well as newcomers will be most satisfied with this story about a corporal on trial for helping a Sikh prisoner escape and the murder of his guard during the British occupation of India.
I received this from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received this from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Anne Perry is one of my favorite writers. She conveys such a sense of place .... whether it be on the dank foggy streets of London, a barge on the Thames, or in India.
Interesting to meet Narraway as a younger man.
Just a lot of ... philosophical rumblings in this one. SOME would be important to the story. I just sort of feel like there was so much it distracted from the story.
Interesting to meet Narraway as a younger man.
Just a lot of ... philosophical rumblings in this one. SOME would be important to the story. I just sort of feel like there was so much it distracted from the story.
Trail must be fairly run-- defendent though thought guilty must be given a defense that will demonstrate what's right about the British system.
Narraway pull a miracle out of the impossible situation.
Reality of violent Seige of Cawnpore makes the book dark in tone.
Narraway pull a miracle out of the impossible situation.
Reality of violent Seige of Cawnpore makes the book dark in tone.
It was a little irritating to think that no one else at any time thought of the issue that solved the case. So it was in that sense unbelievable. Also, was British military justice so weak such that someone could be put to death with no evidence? I can't imagine it being that way.
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Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Anne Perry (born Juliet Hulme) is a British historical novelist.
Juliet took the name "Anne Perry", the latter being her stepfather's surname. Her first novel, The Cater Street Hangman, was published under this name in 1979. Her works generally fall into one of several cate...more
More about Anne Perry...
Anne Perry (born Juliet Hulme) is a British historical novelist.
Juliet took the name "Anne Perry", the latter being her stepfather's surname. Her first novel, The Cater Street Hangman, was published under this name in 1979. Her works generally fall into one of several cate...more
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Nov 02, 2012 08:18pm