A Christmas Resolution is an historical fiction mystery novella set in a village outside London during Christmas season of 1872. The characters John and Celia Hooper are from Perry's William Monk series, but this Christmas story stands on its own.

Celia is falsely accused by a local curmudgeon, Seth Marlowe, of sending him threatening letters. He goes so far as to order her to give up her friendship with his fiancee Clementine. Celia and her policeman husband look into Seth's background to discover details about his late wife and estranged daughter, hoping that he will be bale to start his new marriage with a clean slate.

I enjoyed the character development and story line. There are currently 24 books in Perry's William Monk series if you enjoy what you've read in this novella.

Thanks to #NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the ARC of #AChristmasResolution.

I received an advance copy of, A Christmas Resolution, by Anne Perry. This is book 18 of 18 in the The Christmas Stories Series. This book was not a very Christmasy book. The characters were not nice. I did not enjoy this book.

I've been devouring Anne Perry's William Monk and Thomas Pitt books for years. Perry's latest latest Christmas story, A Christmas Resolution, focuses on William Monk's colleague Mr. Hooper.

Hooper found love late in life but his wife Celia Hooper is brave, compassionate and loyal. Here, Celia Hooper finds her good friend Clementine is engaged to a pompous and meanspirited Seth Marlowe. Clementine is nearly thirty and deserves to find love and have a home of her own, but Celia worries that marriage to Marlowe will wear her friend down. For his part, Marlowe regards Celia as a bad influence and has decided that Clementine should not spend time with or be advised by Celia. He asks Celia to stop interacting with Clementine and advises Clementine to avoid Celia.

Celia is bothered by this interference but she finds even more alarming the rumor that Seth Marlowe drove his wife to suicide. Marlowe accuses Celia of interfering digs up Celia and Hooper's secret. Celia had perjured herself in court to protect Hooper from a charge of mutiny. Hooper's Captain had been unstable and endangered the lives of the crew but the act of removing him from command is mutiny and carries a death sentence. Marlowe threatens to expose Celia's perjury and Hooper's mutiny which can ruin their names and possibly lead to a prison sentence and death penalty.

Anne Perry gives us good people facing difficult decisions and a Christmas story to enjoy.

I always look forward to Anne Perry's Christmas novellas. They involve characters that are secondary ones in her other series and this one featured Detective Hooper from the Monk series. I love the Victorian age and a good mystery at Christmas is a bonus!! Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC.

A Christmas Resolution by Anne Perry is an interesting read but not as upbeat as most Christmas stories are. It is a mystery with Celia and her husband detective John Hooper looking into the background of Celia’s best friend’s fiancé. His former wife died under somewhat mysterious circumstances and it not clear if his daughter is alive or not.
The ideas of kindness, faithfulness and doing the right thing abound throughout the short story. In the end justice is served to some extent. I give this book 4 of 5 stars. The setting is interesting and so is the mystery but I felt it drug on at times and I wasn’t completely fulfilled at the end.
I received an advance copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

If you like Anne Perry’s Victorian books, you’ll like this one. It’s more of a psychological study than a real mystery. An obnoxious man in their community thinks that Celia Hooper has written him a nasty anonymous letter. But she didn’t. John Hooper, her husband and top deputy to William Monk, decides to look into what this man’s story is so he can clear his wife’s name. And in the process, everyone has to ponder what the real meaning of forgiveness is.

I always enjoy her books, but this novella ended rather abruptly without letting us know how these characters were going to respond to what they learned.

It was hard for me to get into this book. I feel like the main character was constantly repeating herself and her fears. It is a story about forgiveness around the holidays and will leave you with thoughts on how to expect the unexpected and have faith in people.

This is the annual Christmas tale from Anne Perry. They are always enjoyable, a sort of oasis in these times. In this tale the issue is how to help a friend who plans to marry. The desirability of marriage in the historic setting is well represented. Unfortunately, the groom selected may be a bad egg. What can a friend do? I know, investigate!

A Christmas Resolution by Anne Perry 4 stars

This is the annual Christmas story from Anne Perry and we visit the world of William Monk that has been sorely missed. This book features Detective John Hooper and his wife Celia in a short Christmas mystery involving Clementime, Celia's friend. Clementine has agreed to marry Seth Marlowe, a judgemental, disagreeable man. There is a mystery surrounding the death of his first wife and he accuses Celia of sending him poison pen letters. In self-defense, Hooper looks into the first wife's death in order to find the letter writer. The mystery is short and engaging and the cameo appearance of William Monk, a delight. All together, a nice evening read for a winter's night.

Thank you Netgalley and Ballantine Books for this ARC.

Novella with themes of kindness, redemption, and truthfulness all rolled into a mystery. Mysterious nasty letters have started coming to to a self righteous religious man and he wants someone to blame, so he threatens a women who is friends with his betrothed with causing gossip and retribution against her. The problem is she's not the one who sent them, and she doesn't take kindly to his threats, and decides she needs to find out who did send them. The story is a good mystery with lots of revelations of the characters involved. I recieved an ARC from Netgalley and the publishers for an honest opinion.

I liked the characters, the setting and the mystery. I haven't read anything with these characters so was a nice introduction to them. From what I gather they would be secondary characters in the Monk books.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a sweet story set in a charming English village.

The characters are sympathetic, and this book is a good fit for the upcoming holiday season.

Set in a small English village in the late 19th century, this story begins shortly before Christmas. In a season of happiness, forgiveness, and goodwill, Celia appears to be experiencing the exact opposite. Her best friend, Clementine, tells her that she has accepted a marriage proposal from Seth Marlowe. Celia knows she should be happy for Clementine, but she has serious misgivings about Seth's character. Clementine's fiancé is a mean spirited and self righteous widower who has made a serious and threatening accusation against Celia. Celia's husband, who is a police officer, sets out to investigate.

Although the story is not strictly a Christmas story, and I could guess the ending, I honestly did enjoy reading the mystery! Themes of friendship, forgiveness, kindness, and truth are incorporated throughout. There is a vivid sense of place, likable characters, and a satisfying conclusion which, coincidentally, happens on Christmas Day.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Anne Perry, and Ballantine Books for giving me an opportunity to read the ARC of this mystery!

Ms. Perry has written another excellent book. The plot is good and has well developed characters and has a holiday theme. It is heartwarming and has a good twist.
Many thanks to Random House Publishing and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I requested to read and review this book from Ballantine Books. This is the second book I have read by author Anne Perry and it was amazing. This book has a lot of twists and turns. There is many emotions to the book sadness anger, shock, happiness and more. Celia determination to help a friend and her husband Hooper that believes in her to help. Flavia and Clementine have amazing strength. The ending was a perfect Christmas gift!! This for any type of reader. It can be read any time of the year.

"A Christmas Resolution" by Anne Perry
I chose to read this story for the change of pace reading a Historical Mystery would provide. I have read this author before and was sure I would enjoy my time within her story. Since it was a change of genre for me from what I had been reading lately; it did take me a bit to get into the rhythm of this story. I found myself holding my breath from time to time as the tension was building up. There were lots of bits and pieces shared. I kept trying to determine how they would fit together when the all the pieces were finally gathered together and the puzzle was solved. I did get some things right, but some of my guesses were truly wrong. Hope you enjoy this story as much as I did. Happy Reading !!
Note: I received an ARC of this story from the publisher via NetGalley with the expectation I would post my honest review.

This was more like a short story, well written but short. I did enjoy the story and thought I'd read all of Anne Perry's books but this was written like it could have been the next chapter in the story of Hooper and Cecila. It stood on it;s own but it feels like there is more to their story. I never would have predicted the daughter coming to the story but it made for a good ending.

Anne Perry's Christmas novellas always center around the secondary characters from the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt and William Monk series. Now that the Monk series appears to be on hiatus, and the Pitt series has migrated to the Edwardian age and shifted its focus to Thomas's son, these Christmas stories provide us with an opportunity to revisit our old friends. While the stories are not as fleshed out as the full-blown novels, they do provide the readers with a pleasant holiday-themed evening of reading.

This novella focuses on John Hooper's wife, Celia, from the William Monk series. Her friend Clementine has become engaged to a man named Seth Marlowe. Celia and Seth have a bitter history, and she fears that her friend is making a big mistake. The mystery centers around Marlowe's past and his first marriage.

Without giving anything away, I must say I was pleased with the ending of the conflict. I had expected the story to go in a different direction. This short book will appeal to readers who like heartwarming holiday stories as well as historical mystery fans.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

A Christmas Resolution by Anne Perry is an entangling mystery that entices you to cheer Clementine on as she tries to solve the mysterious actions of her fiancee Marlowe while protecting her closest friends. It gets you in the holiday spirit but is a fantastic read for any season.

Disclaimer— every year I look forward to reading another of Perry’s holiday novellas. This one, on false accusations, forgiveness, reconciliation, and expiation is a thoughtful exposition on the subject. Celia Hooper stands accused, and threatened, by a man she dislikes who is planning to marry a close friend of hers. Her husband steps in to investigate the self-righteous accuser and discern the facts underlying his accusations. At risk are both women’s friendship and the impending marital union. Moving. Ending without a defined resolution, it exposes long held secrets and pain and reveals hopes of a better and different tomorrow, but only thru stringent self-examination and taking responsibility for the pain inflicted on others. A moving and thoughtful tale in the holiday spirit.