Day 2 of the Advent of Mystery 2023 and we’re going even darker. Today we’re taking a look at The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson. This recent novella has both straight and epistolary prose, following a cold case from the perspectives of two women on the scene. The crimes took place over a fateful Christmas holiday break, and the recollection happens years later on another Christmas.

Epistolary mystery… with extended reflection

The first thing to note about The Christmas Guest is its interesting structure. The first half of the novella is primarily journal entries by a young student in the UK for Christmas, recounting her Christmas holiday in the country. The second half reflects on those journal entries and contextualizes the crimes mentioned within.

Like all epistolary novels, there’s a fair bit of puzzle that comes from interpreting the journal entries. The journal writer is an unreliable narrator, and the entries come without strong future context. This makes reading this section a guessing game as you try to piece together what might have happened – why you’re actually reading the journal.

Unfortunately, the second half of the novel takes all that mystery away. I won’t go into too much detail, but let’s just say that there’s a reason that most writers choose to splice together the past and present in epistolaries novels, rather than deliver it all at once. The best epistolary revelations are those which have been well teed up – enough so that you don’t need an extended explanation. And while it’s possible that the intention was an exploration of the criminal psyche, here, too, I think less would have been more.

Two shocking Christmases

So let’s look at the Christmas factor. The Christmas Guest takes place over two Christmases, one in the past and one in the present. Because the epistolary narrator is a tourist, we get a breathless recollection of various Posh British traditions. There are many moments of Christmas scene-setting, from snowy fields and pub nights to chats by the fireplace.

The novella starts, too, with a current Christmas – a lonelier one in New York. No family, no friends, no presents – just a roast chicken and haunting memories. The story eventually circles back to this tone , and you end on this reflective, apologetic note. Because the story also contains quite a few thriller elements, much of the novel is an actually a warped Christmas feeling. And while there’s an attempt at a “redemption arc” for some of the most unpleasant characters, I found it too little, too late, to meaningfully interrogate the holiday season.

Reader’s notes and rating: 🎁 🎁 🎀

This actually highlights a challenge I have with crime stories set at Christmas. Many require some quite unpleasant assumptions about why murder needs to happen, and lack any community or family elements that feel so central to the season. At times it can feel like the authors go more for the shock factor – “Murder! At the happiest time of year!” – than any deeper considerations about what that could mean.

The Christmas Guest is a fairly quick read, yet I still felt like it somewhat overstayed its welcome. Structurally, I wish the two halves had been presented in parallel – reading a series of journal entries is somehow much more engaging than the same word-count in reflections. And the Christmas setting felt as much about the shock factor as anything else. While I found myself connected with the writer of the journal entries in the first half of the novella, I wanted more connection with the characters in the second half – that may have made the story ultimately more resonant. I have some friends who might enjoy this more thriller / epistolary vibe – but I found myself wishing for more meaning, more resolution.

2.5 Christmas presents.

Until tomorrow, where we’re continuing the Dark Christmas theme – stay cozy, and stay curious!