If you are not familiar with Anne Perry’s work, this is not the book (two novellas in one volume) to start with. It tells two stories of characters that are familiar to readers of Perry’s two major series, Pitt and Monk. The aged characters in those two series—Lady Vespasia and Henry Rathbone—are younger and experiencing a less graphic death story in a Christmas setting. The stories are filled with the beautiful description that fans are used to and details about society norms of 19th century England. A quick read, pleasant, but not phenomenal, and the endings are a bit dissatisfying.