The Christmas Guest

A Novella

De: Peter Swanson

Narrado por: Esther Wane

“Delicious…I defy you to stop reading The Christmas Guest once you begin.”—New York Times Book Review

New York Times bestselling author Peter Swanson pens a spectacularly spine-chilling novella in which an American art student in London is invited to join a classmate for the holidays at Starvewood Hall, her family’s Cotswold manor house. But behind the holly and pine boughs, secrets are about to unravel, revealing this seemingly charming English village’s grim history.

Ashley Smith, an American art student in London for her junior year, was planning on spending Christmas alone, but a last-minute invitation from fellow student Emma Chapman brings her to Starvewood Hall, country residence of the Chapman family. The Cotswold manor house, festooned in pine boughs and crammed with guests for Christmas week, is a dream come true for Ashley. She is mesmerized by the cozy, firelit house, the large family, and the charming village of Clevemoor, but also by Adam Chapman, Emma’s aloof and handsome brother.

But Adam is being investigated by the local police over the recent brutal slaying of a girl from the village, and there is a mysterious stranger who haunts the woodland path between Starvewood Hall and the local pub. Ashley begins to wonder what kind of story she is actually inhabiting. Is she in a grand romance? A gothic tale? Or has she wandered into something far more sinister and terrifying than she’d ever imagined?

Over thirty years later the events of that horrific week are revisited, along with a diary from that time. What began in a small English village in 1989 reaches its ghostly conclusion in modern-day New York, many Christmas seasons later.

©2023 Peter Swanson (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers

Really Great

I love all of Peter Swanson's books. But this was a particularly juicy one. It's written in an old school style but with a little bit of the Peter Swanson vicious spin. Also a great narration.

Loved

I love a twisted Christmas story. Very fun and entertaining. It’s a quick one, but packs a lot in. Great performance.

Haunting Christmas Ghost Story

On the tradition of Christmas ghost stories, this is a haunting mystery with a satisfying twist!

Swanson does it again

I love his twists and his insight into the darkest onslaughts of the human psyche.

Odd, unexpected short read, still some good Swanson in there

Not my favorite. Pretty out of left field for my favorite author. Definitely not his best. But still gotta love his writing style, the plot twists, and his characters. I was happy to read it.

Mediocre

The twist in this was interesting but that was about it. The writing felt like a man who does not understand young women. It contained so many stereotypes. The actual storyline made up 1/3 of the book and left out key details, while also adding in too many unnecessary details.

Great story; perfect length.

Peter Swanson has done it again; one of the best authors I’ve ever read!! Great plot!!

My love for all things Christmas

Peter Swanson you are my favorite. Brilliant novella- I almost longed for it to be longer! Twists I didn’t see coming. I needed more of the story. Narration is top notch.

Eyjoyable

This was an enjoyable novella with a surprising twist. I would listen to another one written by this author.

Clever

I’m beginning my Christmas reading/audio cheer in an interesting way, by listening to Peter Swanson’s “The Christmas Guest”. I’m an admirer of Swanson’s work, having read more than a few. I knew this wasn’t going to be a charming cozy mystery. In an afterward, he writes that Christmas is the perfect time for murder: lots of drinking and decades of family resentments. That made me chuckle.

The story opens with an unnamed narrator, a woman, speaking with an English Accent. She is telling the reader how she spends her holiday, generally cleaning her apartment in New York City. During a Nor’easter storm, she comes across a box, smelling like mothballs, and finds a diary with familiar looking penmanship. She opens it to December 1989, 30 years ago. She muses, that it was that “murderous year”.

The Diary’s author is Ashley Smith; she’s an American student studying abroad, and she’s been invited to the country home of her new friend, Emma Chapman. It’s in the Cotswold’s! This shall be fabulous. Ashley is a graduate student, spending the Christmas holidays with Emma and Emma’s handsome brother, who she immediately develops a crush on. While there, she learns that there is an unknown man who is scaring women. Will this be a gothic horror or a wonderful romantic adventure?

The novella is 112 pages, almost 3 hours in listening time. There’s a reason this is so highly rated. Swanson expertly holds the reader/listener’s attention through the tale. It’s a Christmas story, but he published it in October for a reason….

Excellent novella.