• Published: 28 September 2023
• Pages: 96
• Genre: Mystery, Thriller

Ashley Smith, an American art student in London for her junior year, was fully prepared to spend Christmas alone, but a last-minute invitation from fellow student Emma Chapman brings her to the family’s country residence, Starvewood Hall. Despite it’s mesmerising exterior, the beautiful Cotswold manor, alongside Emma’s aloof and handsome brother to whom Ashley finds herself drawn, hold darker secrets than Ashley could ever imagine.

The Christmas Guest entices you in with it’s warm offering of a Christmas story and leads you into a tale of mystery, murder, and betrayal (reminiscent of Ashley’s experience in the novel). Told through the form of a diary, set during the time of the story and found thirty years later, the novel feels very unique in both plot and prose.

Likes and Dislikes

• As mentioned, I enjoyed the form of the novel being told through Ashley’s diary; Hearing Ashley’s voice allows her to be a living entity within the novel. I especially enjoyed Ashley’s perspective shift back into Emma’s after the revelation of the truth, seeing the reality that one’s own perspective of events may not align with someone else’s.
• I also feel that I benefitted from listening to this book via audiobook; hearing the different voices 0f Ashley and Emma during their perspective shifts was very enjoyable.
• I found the characters compelling, although not very likable. In particular, I found the two main protagonists of the novel – Ashley and Emma – to be quite fascinating. However, Adam felt like a caricature of the typical gothic romance male character and although this may have been intentional, it made him less nuanced than I would have liked – particularly because he was described as charismatic and this did not come across to me.
• The plot of the novel was slightly predictable, however I was shocked by Emma being Ashley’s killer and the second perspective of the novel.
• I enjoyed the conclusion to the novel, I found that Emma becoming the reason for Adam’s eventual punishment felt appropriate and satisfying.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I did enjoy parts of The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson. I rated it a 3.75 out of 5 stars, ultimately because although I felt compelled by the storytelling and protagonist characters, I found elements of the plot to be predictable and the secondary characters superficial. I did find that The Christmas Guest was a welcome break from the regular genre of the Christmas novel – often romance – that I see and for that, I found myself enjoying it more.