The Christmas Guest - Peter Swanson

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Ashley Smith is content to spend Christmas alone. With an ocean between her and her home back in the States, her choices for company--aside from her art studies--are few and far between. When out of the blue, the alluring Emma Chapman invites Ashley to her family's grand estate for the holidays, things seem almost too good to be true. From the Cotswold Manor House to her quarters in Starvehood Hall, Ashley couldn't be more enamored with how her London Christmas has panned out. Until, that is, she meets Emma's handsome brother Adam, and the holidays grow more interesting (and sinister) by the night. 

"The Christmas Guest" is a perfectly atmospheric, mysterious novella written to be devoured in a single setting. In its own, dark way, it boasts the kind of coziness readers seek out for wintertime while maintaining both strong plot and prose throughout. Coming in at just over 100 pages, to say much more in this review would be to spoil Peter Swanson's giftedness--yet again on display here just as it was in his unforgettable novel "The Kind Worth Killing." Grab a mug of mulled wine, find a crackling fire after dark, and wait for the snow to fall: that's when you know it's time to read "The Christmas Guest."

Rating: 4 Stars
Publication Details: Out 10/17/2023, William Morrow

*Many thanks to NetGalley & the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this title!*

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