Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Mariah has mixed feelings about visiting her friend. When she learns her friend is missing, she decides to do some investigating. She learns information about her friend that she wished she didn't. I enjoyed this book.

Every year I look forward to Anne Perry's Christmas novella. Some are better than others though all are good. I found this year's which, sadly, may be the last, to be especially good. It touches on the themes of redemption, acceptance, amends and change. Mariah Ellison, Charlotte Pitt's grandmother, is facing the holidays alone when an invitation from an old friend arrives. She accepts and returns to visit a village where she once lived. Surprisingly, her friend, Sadie, is not at home and Sadie's husband turns Mariah away. Mariah, who is resourceful, finds other accommodation in the village and sets out to find her missing friend. This necessitates revisiting the past, seeing it with new eyes and regrets. Can Mariah and the village find their "better selves" and save Sadie?
Thanks to NetGalley for providing an advanced reader copy of this title for review.

Oh, how I always look forward to Anne Perry's Christmas stories and this one certainly did not disappoint. It is a story fraught with anxiety, frustration, worry and fear. Yet, there is a full draught of courage, fortitude, endurance, mercy, grace and forgiveness rendered all around.

As is so often (and perhaps always) the case, the main characters featured in Ms. Perry's Christmas novellas, are the secondary characters from her mystery series. In this case, Charlotte Pitt's dear and tenacious grandmother Mariah Ellison has resolved to visit a long-known friend over the Christmas holidays after receiving her friend Sadie Alsop's invitation. Upon Mariah's arrival at the Alsop's country home, she is informed by Mr. Alsop that Sadie is away and that Mariah will have to find somewhere else to stay, for the sake of propriety. She is eventually welcomed warmly into Gwendolyn's home, she being an old acquaintance. Both being worried about Sadie, they begin the arduous task of seeking out clues and in so doing, upsetting the town's status quo. The longer Sadie remains unfound, the more anxious everyone becomes. Will Mariah be able to find her friend before it's too late? Only time will tell.

The writing of fulfilling short stories is never an easy task. Yet, Ms. Perry was a master of her craft and has again, delivered an atmospheric and compelling mystery within a modest number of pages. Her scene descriptions are rich and her characters are amazingly well developed. The humanity of the characters is palpable and the reader is afforded an escape from the current world into another of a distant time. As the protagonist goes about her sleuthing, the tension gradually builds and ultimately, to a fevered pitch. As the tension relaxes, the story is drawn to a satisfying conclusion.

I am grateful to Ballantine Books for having provided a complimentary uncorrected e-book through Netgalley. Their generosity, however, has not influenced this review - the words of which are mine alone.

Publisher: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: November 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-0593359181
No. of Pages: 208

Who doesn’t love a good Christmas themed book? Well, this one takes place just before Christmas but doesn’t contain anything about Christmas other than the time period, but it’s still a wonderful mystery about a popular town lady gone missing the week before Christmas. The lady that is missing had invited a single friend to come to town and visit with her and her husband the week before Christmas but then goes missing shortly before her arrival without even telling her husband she was expecting a guest. The guest ends up discovering that she is missing but not by her own choice and proceeds to figure out the motive behind her disappearance and convinces those she’s wronged to look for her. It’s a great story about right vs wrong with some romance slipped in as the story unfolds. I couldn’t put it down! Anne Perry has done it again! (I was so very sad to hear of her passing this year.)

An interesting plot with twists and turns. It is a story of second chances and facing past mistakes. Likable characters. How I will miss Anne Perry

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read and review an advanced copy of this book.

This story is about Mariah, who is invited to spend Christmas with a long-time acquaintance. When she arrives at the village, however, her friend, Sadie, is not there, and Sadie’s husband turns her away. After finally finding lodging with another acquaintance, Mariah is determined to find her friend. Has Sadie just gone off to hide? Has she a victim of foul play? Mariah gathers a few friends along the way and leads the search for clues as to her friend’s whereabouts. As the truth comes out, the search intensifies to find Sadie alive.

This was another enjoyable Christmas mystery in the series by Anne Perry. The twists and turns in the plot leave the reader wondering just how things will all turn out.

A frustrating little story. Mariah Ellison goes to visit her friend Sadie, whom is missing and no one seems to care. The women are older (in their 80's), yet haven't seen each other in some time. Apparently Mariah had visited enough that townspeople remembered her and one takes her in. Mariah decides that something is wrong, Sadie must have been kidnapped or murdered and sets out to find who did it and why. The police are notified, no one else is concerned but her. Weirdly enough, everyone she encounters bares their soul to her, Sadie is found and it's a Christmas "sets the world right" type of ending. Not really a favorite, would probably recommend skipping unless you were reading every book Ms Perry had written.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This mystery had so many twists! Often the Christmas mysteries have a limited number of suspects and solutions as they are "locked room" situations, but this one involved an entire village and a missing person. There were also multiple twists that I didn't see coming, which is always a plus and impressive with a shorter mystery.

Mariah, the main character, has been a less than sympathetic figure in past Anne Perry books, so it was refreshing to see her from another perspective and discover a new future and possibilities for her.

Overall, a suspenseful read with unexpected twists that was hard to put down!

Mariah is a Victorian era Mrs. Marple who returns to the quaint little English village of St. Helens to help solve the mystery of her missing friend. As the sordid pasts of her neighbors are revealed, time begins to run out to save the increasingly unlikeable Sadie before she freezes to death in the wintry days and nights leading up to Christmas Eve. If you like septua- and octo-genarians solving crimes in the English country side, you will like this cozy thriller.

I didn’t realize this book was set in the Victorian era. It’s not really the era I like to read about. The characters were a little stuffy.it was interesting having older people solving the crime. It’s a quick read. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced free copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Gossip and rumors were overtaking the lives of a village, where Charlotte Pitt's grandmother formerly lived. After an unexpected invite to visit during the Christmas holidays, she returns unknowingly to a town where everyone seems to have secrets and the suspected blackmailer is missing. Invariably another Christmas mystery develops and revolves around one of the Pitt’s family.

Another wonderful and inspiring Christmas Novel by Anne Perry.

Thank you Netgalley and Ballantine Books for the eARC.

Ok, this one captured my attention. I wasn't sure where it was going and where it would end until I had finished reading it.

I enjoy Perry's writing. In her series of Christmas-themed books, this was one of my favorites. It contains mystery, suspense, romance, and holiday hopes. Well worth picking up as the days grow shorter, your evenings are spent indoors, and Christmas comes nearer.

This is a quick, excellent Christmas story set in a small village. What has happened to the protagonist's long-time friend is the gist of this story, and you do have to wonder if she is going to be found dead or alive. This ends on Christmas Eve, and hereby ends the last of Anne Perry's Christmas stories. Thankfully I have others I haven't read yet, so it isn't the end of Anne Perry for me. I highly recommend this quick read if you want a good Christmas story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an ARC of this book.
I'm a huge fan of Anne Perry and am very sad that I will not be reading a new book of hers. This is the first Christmas book I've read. I believe there are many of them. Some of the characters are related to her series and some are not.
In the book, Charlotte Pitts' grandmother, Mariah, is invited to spend Christmas with an old friend, Sadie, and her husband. The two haven't seen each other in twenty years or so. The story opens with Mariah on the train reflecting on her friendship with Sadie and what it will be like to see each other after all this time. How much will each of them have changed? But when she arrives at Sadie's door, the husband, looking ragged, tells her that Sadie isn't there and she/Mariah isn't welcome.
Mariah finds a bed to sleep in with someone else she knew from the old days and together, they start to wonder and then search for clues as to Sadie's whereabouts. Everyone in the village seems to know she has disappeared but no one seems to want to take any action.
And so follows a tale of friendship, of forgiveness, of secrets, of how much we don't ever really know each other.
This book is far more reflective than any of Perry's series. It sometimes seemed repetitive and redundant. But the reader is listening to the interiority of an 80 year old so maybe the repetition is on purpose.
There is a bit of a mystery and certainly, the characters in the book think the worst has happened. But this isn't the caliber of her series. At the same time, it's a Christmas tale with Christmas reflections and tidings. It might be comparing apples to oranges.
I enjoyed the book. It is a very quick read.

I received a free copy of, A Christmas Vanishing, by Anne Perry, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Mariah Ellison accepts her friends Sadies invitation for Christmas, but when she gets there Sadie is missing and her husband Barton, does not let her stay. Mariah has to find her friend Sadie. I found this book to bit weird but good.

Christmas in July #6 🌲

Anytime an older white woman solves crimes in a tiny village I want her to be Miss Marple. She never is.

The grammar and sentence structure is strange, and I'm not sure it's due to the fact that residents of this village are aged. Sadie invites Mariah to visit after 20+ years of not speaking. Weird, but not the weirdest premise. However, when Mariah arrives, Sadie is missing. Sadie's husband seems suspicious.

But then we get to the crux of the matter. The entire town is suspicious. Why? Turns out little old Sadie is not so innocent after all. At this point, I stopped caring whether she would be found or not. In fact, in this instance, isn't it better to let her just get hers? I obviously don't feel a lot of sympathy here.

This is a very quick hour long read if you need something to up your reading challenge.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

I have read a great many Anne Perry books and have enjoyed all her series. The Christmas series are generally novellas of about 200 pages, as is the case with A Christmas Vanishing. This novella is a quick easy read, but do not for a moment think of it as unimportant. Perry never chooses topics that are unimportant.

In A Christmas Vanishing, Perry uses a group of older characters to illustrate the need for forgiveness, hope, and betrayal. The secrets of the past are secrets that most people prefer to keep hidden, but with the disappearance of Mariah's friend, Sadie, Mariah quickly learns how gossip can destroy friendships and lives. Since Mariah is the grandmother of Charlotte Pitt, readers familiar with Perry's series with understand that Mariah will not stop searching until she solves the mystery of Sadie's disappearance. Mariah listens carefully, grasps the importance of what is not being said, and can quickly fill in the blanks. The characters in A Christmas Vanishing are complex and multi-layered. Perry knows her characters and is quite capable of of writing the sorts of details that hold the readers attention.

A Christmas Vanishing was an enjoyable read. I am so sad that Perry has died, and unless there are some forthcoming novels in the pipeline, I won't have the opportunity to read more of her novels. I want to thank Ballantine Books for providing this ARC for me to read and review. The above comments are my honest thoughts. Thank you also to NetGalley for making the downloading of novels so easy for readers.

Historical fiction with a moral. This is a quick read about a small village and gossip. Blackmail and secrets add to the intrigue. This book was sent to me electronically by Netgalley for review. Thanks to the publisher and gifted author. Anne Perry was a great writer who I’ll not be forgotten.