“An annual treat,” declared The Wall Street Journal of Anne Perry’s Victorian-era holiday mysteries. Now she continues this magnificent tradition with A Christmas Garland, a yuletide tale set in exotic India. This time the mistress of mystery tells the story of a terrible crime that sets the stage for another: accusing an innocent man of murder.

The year is 1857, soon after the violent Siege of Cawnpore, with India in the midst of rebellion. In the British garrison, a guard is killed and an Indian prisoner escapes, which leads to yet more British deaths. Cries for revenge are overwhelming. Despite no witnesses and no evidence against him, a luckless British medical orderly named John Tallis is arrested as an accomplice simply because he was the only soldier unaccounted for when these baffling crimes were committed.

Though chosen to defend Tallis, young Lieutenant Victor Narraway is not encouraged to try very hard. Narraway’s superiors merely want a show trial. But inspired by a soldier’s widow and her children, and by his own stubborn faith in justice, Narraway searches for the truth. In an alien world haunted by memories of massacre, he is the accused man’s only hope.

The trial of John Tallis equals the white-knuckle best of Anne Perry’s breathtaking courtroom dramas. And thanks to a simple Christmas garland and some brilliant detective work, Narraway perseveres against appalling odds, learning how to find hope within himself —and turn the darkest hour into one full of joy and light.

Review

For fans of:  Kate Kingsbury, Charles Todd

It's December, 1857.  Lieutenant Victor Narraway is relatively new to his regiment in Cawnpore, India (and to the British army, in general), but that doesn't mean his commanding officers are going to take it easy on him. To the contrary, they've given him an assignment that's as unpleasant as it is impossible:  he's been tasked with defending Corporal John Tallis at trial.  Tallis is a medic who's accused of having committed an act of treason that led to the massacre of ten men.  No matter that Tallis insists he's innocent, or that there were no witnesses to his alleged crime, or that he had no motive to betray his unit, or that nobody can believe he'd do such a thing – he's the only one without an alibi, and the men need closure, so unless Narraway can pull off a miracle and uncover the truth of what actually happened, Tallis is going to hang.

I'm not really a fan of historical mysteries, nor do I tend to like books with a holiday theme; the former are often dry and bogged down with boring and unnecessary (but historically accurate!) details, and the latter are usually light on plot and drowning in schmaltz and sentiment. So to say I was reluctant to pick up A Christmas Garland by Anne Perry would be an understatement. I'm happy to report, however, that my trepidation was unwarranted, and that this book quite simply blew me away. The prose is graceful and poetic without being flowery. The descriptions –every sight, scent, and sound – are vivid, and Perry's imagery is striking.  The narration is compelling and does a great job of pulling you into the mind of the protagonist; you can't help but become emotionally invested in Narraway's plight. And Perry eloquently and devastatingly conveys what it’s like to be a soldier at war in a foreign land.

Perry’s character work is nothing short of incredible. This book is a master’s course in just enough; there are no extraneous cast members – every single one has a purpose – and you never learn any more about a character than you need to know for the purpose of the story.  The end result is a story that’s sparse, but not too.

The setup is simple yet clever, the pacing is perfect, and the plot is brilliant in its construction. And while the book makes for a marvelous mystery, it's also a deeply philosophical tale. Through Narraway, Perry makes you reflect on the concepts of duty, honor, and morality, and also makes you contemplate what would happen if the first of those things happened to stand in direct opposition to the other two.  Narraway doesn’t want this job; he has virtually no chance of winning, and the very act of defending a suspected traitor – even if he's doing so under duress – is certain to make him a pariah.  On the other hand, though, a part of him believes Tallis is telling the truth, and Narraway knows if he doesn’t throw himself into the job and defend the man to the best of his abilities, Tallis’ blood will be on his hands.  What’s a man to do?

Reviewed by Kat

READERS COMMENTS