It’s the third day of our Advent of Mystery and we’re looking at Christmas Presents by Lisa Unger. Unger’s work is a little out of my usual zone, but I was excited to see how I’d fare with another thriller-style mystery.
Christmas Presents follows the story of a bookshop owner, Madeline Martin, whose life is turned upside down when a true crime podcaster comes to town. On the request of two involved mothers, he starts to dig into the dark crime in her past – one she’s tried to forget. In parallel, someone’s reported a missing girl – one of many over the years – and the story follows her thread, too. The three stories converge and decades-old secrets start to come to light…
The darkest of darks…
Under is not afraid to take her characters to dark places. Madeline remembers the crimes of the past vividly, and I found myself wincing to get through the pages at times. Unger’s talent for empathetic description creates a sense of fear and engagement. There’s darkness beyond Madeline, too, as the story follows Lolly through the fear of her kidnapping; and Harley as he deals with his own personal demons. The puzzle itself is not quite so complicated, given the relatively narrow cast of characters… But you’re wrapped up enough in the suspense of the story that it’s easy to stay engaged instead of analytical.
Unlike Peter Swanson in The Christmas Guest, Unger chooses to interweave chapters from all three narrators, jumping back and forth in time and place over the course of the story. Each chapter begins with uncertainty as you re-place yourself in the story and figure out who you’re following for the next few pages. It might be a lot for a full-length novel, but I found it almost worked for this novella length (though I did tire a bit by the end).
…balanced by the hope of the season
Unger uses this darkness to reflect on the light and the hope of the holidays. Because while Madeline has lived in dark times, she’s working her way towards a more hopeful future. Her life is full of support, of those who love her, and it’s this love that makes Christmas Presents worth the time.
This is very different from the bleakness in The Christmas Guest, which followed only characters who were generally miserable and alone. Unger writes characters who have something to lose, and it’s this potential loss that makes her writing suspenseful. The story isn’t set at Christmas for irony value; instead, the timing forces Madeline to recognize her growth.
Reader’s notes and rating: 🎁 🎁 🎁 🎀
I don’t know if thrillers are exactly my cup of tea, but Christmas Presents is as good a start as any. This more pensive, dark look at Christmas still manages to create an appreciation for the season. I can’t say it’s exactly my vibe – but I can appreciate it as a craft.
3.5 presents.
We’ll be pulling away from the darkest stories to get into some Alexandra Benedict next. Until tomorrow, stay cozy, and stay curious!
P.S. For some reason, both Christmas Presents and The Christmas Guest feature Santa masks. Of course it’s theoretically seasonally appropriate – but also, I don’t think I’ve ever SEEN a Santa mask IRL… Is this a thing?
