Two holiday novels provide the perfect combination of mystery and murder mixed with a generous helping of Yuletide cheer.

1. A Christmas Guest; 2. A Christmas Secret

A tranquil weekend party in early December at a magnificent country house is shattered by a suspicious death.  A young Lady Vespasia Cumming-Gould must help her friend Isobel who has made a very cutting remark about Gwendolen Kilmuir on the night when she was supposed to be getting engaged.  Gwendolen flees the room and the next morning is found dead; suicide.  Isobel, accompanied by Vespasia, must make a journey of expiation to the Scottish Highlands, with an unexpected result...

Henry Rathbone arrives to spend Christmas at the Dreghorn family manor house near Ullswater.  He is greeted by the news that the master of the house, Judah Dreghorn, has died, presumed accidentally drowned.  Not only this, but Judah’s good name is being slandered by someone claiming to be the rightful owner of the manor and estate.  Rathbone and Judah’s brothers must investigate.

When vinegar-tongued Grandmama Ellison is obliged to spend Christmas away from home in the wind-swept Romney Marshes, with Charlotte Pitt’s parents, Joshua and Caroline Fielding, her mood becomes even more sour.  The arrival of Joshua’s cousin Maude does not bring out the best in Grandmama Ellison, but when Maude is found dead, she turns detective and learns something unexpected about herself...

Dominic Corde is thrilled to ‘fill the robe’ as substitute vicar in the village of Cottisham while the Rev. Wynter is away on leave.  Dominic and his new wife Clarice arrive during an exceptionally frigid and snowy season.  The welcoming and cosy vicarage and the hospitable neighbours seem all too perfect, until they find that the Rev. Wynter has not gone on holiday at all...

Superintendent Runcorn of Scotland Yard is spending Christmas on the wild and beautiful island of Anglesey.  While out on a walk he discovers the body of Olivia Costain, the local vicar’s sister.  Only an outsider could have committed such a heinous crime, he is assured, but as he delves deeper into Olivia’s past, he uncovers some disturbing secrets, and opens the door to a new future for himself...

With Christmas approaching, Emily Radley, Charlotte’s sister is suddenly called from London to be with her dying aunt.  Alone, she makes the journey to Connemara, on the west coast of Ireland.  A tragic legacy haunts this close-knit community and a lone shipwreck survivor threatens to unlock old wounds, but also to offer a solution to an old crime and bring peace and resolution to the community.

A young girl is searching for the truth behind her uncle's death.  Can she solve the mystery before the Christmas bells toll?