She was more alive than I was back then.
The Christmas Guest
by Peter Swanson
Genre: Mystery
About: Ashley, an American art student, is preparing to spend Christmas alone in London when her friend Emma invites her to come home with her. She lives in a huge country manor house, nearby quaint pubs and English woods. It's a dream to Ashley. Especially as Emma's brother turns out to be golden-haired, handsome and has his eyes on her. But the small country community has secrets, and Ashley soon hears gossip of a murder: the victim of which looked just like her.
Thoughts
The first half of this really captivated me. Ashley's diary entries are endearing and gives us all the details we need to be intrigued about what's to come. I really liked the setting as well and the cast of characters had a lot of potential; there's a spiteful father, a cold, downtrodden mother, the genial uncle and ditzy cousins, none of which enter the story in any meaningful way. We focus in on only the main players which makes the twist entirely guessable. And guess I did.
The second half of the story is the explanation behind the twist. The how, the why, the feelings afterwards. The tension of the story is lost and although it was still a good listen, I felt a little disappointed that there wasn't more to the mystery.
Overall, this is short and entertaining and has good atmosphere. But the twist isn't much of a twist and the second half has no real mystery or shock value to add to the story. It's like the first half is the anticipation of Christmas Eve and the second half is the calmer, duller Boxing Day.
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