Ashley Smith is abroad in England ready to spend her Christmas break alone when her classmate, Emma Chapman, invites her to her family's manor home. Ashley heads to the vast estate outside the city and finds a gorgeous estate ready to celebrate Christmas and a mysterious death. She meets Emma's family, and quickly develops an attraction to her brother Adam. Ashley learns more about the recent unsolved murder and its potential connection to the Chapman family as she tries to enjoy the holiday.

Peter Swanson delivers a quick novella that delivers in building out a world and then flipping everything on its head with the short book's numerous twists. The diary style of the majority of the novella gave it a unique spin, with the reader getting to piece together Ashley's story from what she told her dear Diary and the mysteries surrounding the Chapman family. Peter Swanson fans will enjoy a shortened version of his usually great twisty thrillers and it is a nice cozy Christmas story to enjoy. I wish the story was longer to flesh out the characters and mystery a bit more but it is pleasant to have such a fast paced read.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for a copy of The Christmas Guest in exchange for an honest review.

American in London Art Student Ashley Smith is invited to spend the holidays with classmate Emma Chapman at her big country home. Ashley is expecting the traditional English Christmas and finds herself wrapped up in a murder.

This is the Holiday Mystery/Story for people who love and hate Christmas, and perfect for cozying up over the holidays for one-sitting mystery read.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC!

I've had fun reading a few mysteries for Christmas this year!

As an American art student in England, Ashley is planning to spend Christmas alone until her classmate, Emma invites her to her families' manor in the country. All of it seems incredible, including Emma's twin brother, Adam, who Ashley crushes on.

Adam might not be all that Ashley thinks since the police are investigating him for murder. However, she is convinced it was the strange man she sees in the woods who killed a local girl. This family has secrets. What really happened? Who is protecting who?

I gave this novella ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. It had lots of twists and turns and kept me guessing. I liked the way the book was split into two completely different sections. It was a fun and quick read in this chaotic month!

Thank you to William Morrow and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book.

This was my first Christmas novella so I really had no idea what to expect. It really packed a bunch for such a short-read, especially the first-half. I'm not one who usually pays much attention to how the setting contributes to feel of the book, but even I have to say that I found this book to be plenty atmospheric. I also found the main characters to be plenty naive which made the overall book fall a little short for me. The twist did make up for that bit some though and overall I'd pick up another holiday Swanson novella if he releases one! Not like it was a question if I'd pick up another Swanson book...just over here patiently waiting for A TALENT FOR MURDER to release this summer!

Thank you William Morrow and NetGalley for my ARC!

It’s hard to find a spooky Christmas read but this one was a great option. Peter Swanson is great at keeping you guessing and the set up for this book was very unique and surprising

In general Christmas novellas are not where you are going to discover an author’s best work and I definitely think that is true for Peter Swanson. But this novella did exactly what it set out to do…it entertained me for Christmas Eve while I waited for my kids to fall asleep and I could fill their stockings. I love the country manor setting and I love the diary entries. I even loved the flash forward in time in the second half. Was it completely unpredictable? No of course not. But it was fun and had a definite Christmas setting and it was written well. My main complaint is that I HATE long chapters. I understand why this only has 2 chapters, but man my enjoyment would have gone up if there were at least 4 or possibly 8 chapters.

I haven’t read any books by this author but had heard lots of good things about him. This book bored me to the point where I only read half of it. I felt like it was required reading and just didn’t like it.

TW: Language, drinking, drugs, cheating, violence, blood, sexual assault, depression, anxiety, smoking, toxic parent relationships, blood, toxic friendships

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
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.
Release Date: September 28th, 2023
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 104
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Writing was good

What I Didn't Like:
1. Felt generic
2. Too too short

Overall Thoughts:
Sometimes you read a book and it feels too long and sometimes it feels too short. In this case this book was too short with the most basic things happening. There is no mystery within these pages and you're never caught off guard. It reads so fast that it's over before you know it.

The characters are annoying and needy. No one to root for. Right out the door you're shows that Ashley Smith is the kind of person that would sleep with a man that her friend is interested in. Our siblings have no redeeming qualities either. One is a murderer and the other just goes along with her jealousy and what her brother wants.

Things are never explained why. Why did Emma and Adam stop talking shortly after the murder of Ashley? We are just thrown into the future where Adam is a murderer and Emma decides that because non of these murders benefit her she might as well take her brother down. It all felt very - okay well that happens to me.

Final Thoughts:
I should say that I am not the biggest fan of Peter Swanson. I personally find his stories to be swayed by storylines from other movies and books. He also tends to ruin plots for other things in his books, which is very rude to say the least.

This book was just meh. There is nothing great or bad it just exists.

Yes! This is what is missing from the holiday reading landscape. I want more thriller novellas from talented mystery and thriller authors. I was drawn in immediately and loved the format of a diary. Having only the perspective of the older, written diary, and piecing the truth from Christmas past together was so much fun. The length was plenty to feel the eerie nature of the story and follow the breadcrumbs to the end. The twists were well done. Loved it!

This wasn't your typical Christmas romance or holiday story. It was more of a dark ghost story that took place at Christmas time. The majority of this novella is told through diary entries read by an unreliable narrator. A young woman is invited by a new friend, Emma, to spend Christmas at her family's manor in the English countryside. During her visit, she learns of a murder that took place in the area and which her friend's brother, a man she's become attracted to, was suspected of committing. The diary mentions the girl seeing a man wearing a mask in the woods by the house. Then Emma also sees this man. The diary ends when Emma asks her friend to go out to meet her brother and a friend at a local pub.

After the diary entries are finished, readers learn of the main twist in the story. I felt the ending could be interpreted in different ways. It was an interesting story but, unfortunately, not one I think would appeal to many readers for the holidays.

This was great for what it was, a fun lil novella. The characters weren’t fleshed out as one would hope, the story was fairly minimal and one dimensional, as is often the case with novellas. It felt like the bones of a story rather than a story, but I guess this is to be expected. It’s the perfect quick little read for the Holidays, won’t blow your mind but fun to read to get in the spirit of the Holidays:

I thoroughly enjoyed this little novella. Once I got to part two, I was quite surprised. I love everything this author writes.

This was fun! Typical Swanson mystery...dark. Not terribly complex but it was a novella. Fun setting and nice & Christmassy.

This is a fun and atmospheric novella centering mostly around an unsolved murder. Broken up into two parts, the first part of the novella is told through diary entries while the second part is set in the present. I really liked the structure of the novella and feel like it added to the mystery and twists of the story. It's challenging to talk too much about the plot given the length of the novella, but if you are looking for a short, somewhat seasonal mystery, this is a great option.

I've read other works from this author and while this is shorter than his other works, I think the length of this book is perfect. I am glad that Swanson kept this a novella rather than a full length novel and I think the plot is perfectly suited to the length of the book and would have felt like it was dragging on if it was any longer.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for providing an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun, short, and atmospheric novella. I definitely got the wintry vibes, but not so much the Christmas or holiday vibes the author so wanted to exude. And I’m glad this was a short one. Had it been a full-length novel I’m not sure I would’ve finished it. The author relied too much on telling and less on showing for my liking.

This was the first book I have read by Peter Swanson and I enjoyed it. I bought a couple more that I will be reading next. This was a short spooky tale that's perfect to read in one sitting during Christmas time! I always love a good novella and this one didn't disappoint. This book will keep you on your toes, I would recommend this book this holiday season.



Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for allowing me to read this ARC for my honest opinion.

Grade: C

Nothing says Christmas like a murder at an English Estate, right? Well, maybe...if it is in the right hand. Unfortunately, these were not the right hands. I've read and enjoyed Peter Swanson in the past, so I came into this one with the expectation that it would at least be solid. Right from the start, I realized my expectations were too high.

The majority of the first half of this book is told in diary form, which isn't my favorite method, but I can usually handle it. However, Swanson missed the voice by a mile here. There is no way a 20-year-old woman would write this diary. I could believe a 12-year-old might, but only one that I would find annoying. I quickly became annoyed because the narrative voice was so discordant with the actual story.

The overall mystery is fine, although it is nothing to write home about. Once we get to the second half, the voice issues go away, but then, well, the book goes in a direction that it just hasn't earned. Instead of creating any tension, it led me to roll my eyes. Swanson is a better writer and story crafter than this, and I felt slightly insulted by what happened.

Will I read Peter Swanson in the future? Yes. However, I might go into any future books I read with more care going in. As for this one, I will chalk it up to an established writer trying something new that didn't work.

Thank you William Morrow and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book early in exchange for an honest review. I didn’t really know what to expect from this book, but was very surprised on how much I liked it. The story itself was full of a terrific setting and interesting characters. The storyline was great and the ending was shocking. Lots of twists and turns. Loved it!

Read this in one sitting tonight (right next to my Christmas tree) and I loved it! I’ve read six Peter Swanson novels now, but this was my first novella of his. It was classic Swanson, who is one of my absolute favorite mystery authors of all time.

Christmas thrillers? Yes, please!! Coming in at around 100 pages boy does it pack a punch. I love how jam packed all the suspense and thrills were. As the reader, you have an inclination of what might be happening but the revealing part is the best. Told in past and present time, Swanson includes diary readings of Ashley from 1989 and present timeline with Emma reminiscing about that one Christmas guest. Pretty early on, you get a good understanding what it means to be a Christmas guest to an elusive family.

I think more authors need to write these small Christmas novellas. The holiday season can get busy and what better way to read/listen for a quick fix.