The Christmas Guest – Book Review

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.

If you are looking for a short thriller to read during Christmas break, check out the Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson.

The story is set in 1989 when an American exchange student, Ashley Smith who is studying in England was asked to spend the Christmas with Emma Chapman at Starvewood Manor in the English countryside. Ashley was excited to experience the Christmas in the British countryside. She meets Emma’s brother, Adam, a handsome and charismatic man and she falls in love with him. Nearly few years ago, a girl named Joanna was found brutally murdered by Chapman’s residence and Adam was the main suspect in the case. Ashley realizes that someone sinister is lurking in the woods and feels like she is in a part of Gothic thriller.

This was a short thriller and quick to read as well. The story is divided into two parts–the first part are the extracts of Ashley’s diary and the second part takes place after an incident at the manor. There are some twists and turns along the way but there are some parts that are bit disturbing to read. Nevertheless, I managed to finish this book in less than twenty-four hours. So if you are someone who looks for a quick read, check this book out. Worth four stars.