We’re coming to the end of this year’s Advent of Mystery—and to the end of the traditional mystery novels. Today’s read is A Scrooge Mystery by Andreina Cordani, a familiar name for repeat Advent readers. Typically, her holiday crime books take a tradition (a country house party, Christmas shopping) and add a dark twist. This time, however, she’s strayed away from her usual thriller style to deliver a murder mystery featuring Ebenezer Scrooge.

Specifically, when Bob Cratchit is arrested for murder, Scrooge finds himself pulled into the investigation. It’s an intriguing take on a classic holiday character—albeit one who has fallen a bit out of fashion. And it makes me wonder why we haven’t seen more non-Austen mystery adaptations. Surely Jane Eyre, Jo March, or Inspector Bucket could all serve as compelling detective leads. So for this one, in addition to the mystery element and the festive spirit, I found myself pondering what makes for a good classic-literature mystery homage.

Bringing ghosts to the detection party

I’ve really enjoyed the mystery elements of Cordani’s prior two books, even wishing for more mystery and less thriller. A Scrooge Mystery delivers on that front, centering the story around a true-blue murder mystery. But with Cordani, there’s always some kind of twist to the formula… Here, it’s not enough for Scrooge to get into the detection business: he’s also dealing with ghosts.

Paranormal mysteries can get tricky from an integrity perspective. If a character can speak to the dead, why can’t the dead simply tell you what happened? And what happens when the character is interacting with ghosts that usually only they can see? Cordani solves the first issue by placing clear constraints on her ghosts: they have imperfect memories and can only communicate once they gain more understanding. For the second, she uses Scrooge’s character to explain what others see diegetically—and to add an element of tragedy to the solve.

In Cordani’s world, people definitely noticed Scrooge last year, cavorting in the streets and talking to ghosts. It’s impacted his reputation and his respectability, so communing with the ghosts forces Scrooge to choose between what is right and what is respectable. Cordani manages to make Scrooge—so often treated as a comic reference in the modern canon—a deeply sympathetic hero. It’s extraordinary character work, and absolutely not what I was expecting from this year’s A Christmas Carol mystery homage.

Christmas spirit: aesthetic and inspired

The festive element of A Scrooge Mystery is where Cordani truly shines. She opens with a Scrooge trying to balance his business, his philanthropic efforts, and his relationships with family and friends. This Scrooge genuinely wants to be good, constantly evaluating whether he’s met the bar—or needs to go further. Cordani establishes other businesspeople as foils, underscoring just how culturally difficult this transformation is as Scrooge attempts to conduct business both effectively and ethically.

Then the murder occurs, and Scrooge’s world turns upside down. A moment of hesitation costs Bob Cratchit his freedom, and now it’s up to Scrooge to investigate and save him. The investigation takes him into rival businesses and the seedy underbelly of London. By transposing her typical “eat the rich” themes into Dickensian England—and placing the most famous rich miser of all at the center—Cordani crafts a redemptive arc that fits seamlessly with the Christmas spirit.

Cordani adds thoughtful character touches that reinforce this theme of redemption and responsibility. We hear from Tiny Tim about how deeply he trusts Scrooge, and that faith bolsters our own. It also adds a heartwarming note – one that becomes heart-wrenching when Scrooge begins to “act out”. We also hear from the victim about her life in poverty, gaining a clear sense of how brutal a London Christmas can be. Along the way, Scrooge encounters a range of philanthropic efforts competing for his attention and wallet, forcing him to consider what it truly means to give during the holiday season.

All of this unfolds against a richly realized Victorian Christmas backdrop. Victorian England is where many modern Christmas traditions originate, and Cordani delights in showing us early Christmas trees and the first Christmas cards. There’s a Christmas ball, Christmas presents, and endless holiday planning. The result is a book saturated with Christmas—both the aesthetic trappings and the deeper spirit of the season.

An artful homage

Homages to classic works can be tricky. Too often, authors simply draw on the characters and world of the original without having much to add. Those homages can be fun, but they often feel thin—like imagined side adventures rather than works that engage with the richness of the source material.

A Scrooge Mystery stands apart because so many aspects of its construction actively expand on the original. When I first heard the premise, I was skeptical that Scrooge could work as a detective—or that a story of detection could meaningfully connect to his original arc. I read it anyway, because I love Andreina Cordani, and I’m so glad I did.

Cordani uses Scrooge to explore redemption, guilt, and what it means to improve oneself in a world where morality is murky and doing the “right” thing often runs against the grain. She gives us a glimpse of the fragile happiness Scrooge has built, then dismantles it as he pursues the truth. It matters that it’s Scrooge—not only because he has special access to ghosts, but because he understands how hard-won his relationships are, and how painful it might be to sacrifice them in service of justice. Her Scrooge feels like a genuine continuation of Dickens’s original work.

A new holiday favorite

If you couldn’t tell, I’m in awe of A Scrooge Mystery. It has all the tension and thematic depth of Cordani’s prior works, but the setting and characters give it a more festive, fairy-tale quality. The mystery is solid and meaningfully tied to the themes. There’s plenty of tension and dramatic irony, but it’s turned inward—centered on a character many of us treat as a seasonal joke. This is absolutely my favorite book I’ve read this Christmas season, and I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a truly Christmassy mystery. (Sadly for my US readers, the book is not available yet this side of the pond.)

That’s (sadly) it for the “true” novels. Over the next couple of days, we’ll be circling back with two intriguing mystery advent calendars I’ve been working through all month. I’ll see you there, pencil at the ready—until then, stay cozy and stay curious.