He liked the carols that reeked of ancient madrigals, the ones that made you imagine snow and wolves out there in the darkness, kept off by fire and song. [loc. 144]
Short, sweet, surprise Christmas novella set in the same milieu as Charles' 'Lilywhite Boys' series (Any Old Diamonds and Gilded Cage), and featuring a character from those books. The focus here, though, is on the festively-named John Garland, disgraced hotel detective, who has thrown himself on the mercy of his elderly uncle Abel, who hosts an annual Christmas party and loves antique Yuletide customs. John's choice of festive venue is not entirely random: his nemesis, stage designer Barnaby Littimer -- whose affections cost John his job -- is in charge of organising the festivities, and John would dearly like some vengeance this Christmas.
Of course it is not that simple. Of course there are communication issues, a dastardly plot, an imminent wedding, and one or two guests who are not quite what they seem. And there is a delightfully menacing appearance by 'the lean terrifying one known to hotel detectives across England as ‘that bastard’'. Mmm, Jerry ... This was a splendid, cheering pre-Christmas read, refreshingly free of Victorian sentimentality and rich with pagan tradition: now I want to go back and reread the novels.
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