Anne Perry: A Christmas Promise (UK 2010)

From the Publisher:
DECEMBER 1883. When thirteen-year-old Gracie Phipps sees Minnie shivering on the street, she finds herself drawn into the search for Charlie, a missing donkey. As Minnie talks though, Gracie becomes conscious there is more to the story than the loss of the animal: Charlie disappeared the day before Minnie's Uncle Alf, his owner, fell from his cart and died.

Was Alf's fall accidental or was it deliberate? As the search continues, can Gracie and Minnie learn the truth about Alf's death, and find Charlie, without putting themselves in danger?

Anne Perry's seventh Christmas novella - set in a poverty-stricken corner of Victorian London - tells a festive tale of the power of faith in the face of danger.

Anne Perry: A Christmas Promise. A Novel. Headline, ISBN: 9780755351121 (September, 2010), 170 p., £6.99.

Anne Perry: A Christmas Promise (UK 2009)

From the Publisher:
December 1883. There's a chill in the air on the streets of East London but as Christmas approaches not everybody is wishing goodwill to all men. When thirteen-year-old Gracie Phipps sees a young girl shivering on the street, she finds herself drawn into the search for Charlie, a missing donkey.

But as Minnie Maude Mudway talks, Gracie realises that she has more to worry about than just the loss of the animal. Charlie disappeared the day before when Minnie's Uncle Alf, a rag and bone man, fell from his cart and died.

As the girls dig deeper into the events surrounding Charlie's disappearance, what starts off as a hunt for a lost donkey soon becomes something far more sinister as they realise Alf's fall may not be as accidental as it appears. With the help of wise Mr Balthasar, a local shopkeeper, can Gracie and Maude learn the truth about Alf's death - and find Charlie - without somebody else getting hurt?

Anne Perry's seventh Christmas novella, set in a poverty-stricken corner of Victorian London, rells a festive tale of the power of faith in the face of danger.

Anne Perry: A Christmas Promise. A Novel. Headline, ISBN: 9780755351114 (October, 2009), 152 p., £16.99.

Anne Perry: A Christmas Promise (USA 2009)

From the Publisher:
Anne Perry's Victorian Christmas novels have attracted as many faithful readers as her two New York Times bestselling series featuring investigators Thomas Pitt and William Monk. A Christmas Promise is the seventh in Perry's holiday series, and it will surely bring joy to this special season.

Three days before Christmas, in the freezing slums of London's East End, thirteen-year-old Gracie Phipps encounters Minnie Maude Mudway, who is only eight, alone, and determined to find her friend Charlie.

However Charlie is no ordinary companion: He is a donkey who belonged to Minnie Maude's Uncle Alf. Gracie is shocked to learn that only the day before, someone brutally murdered Uncle Alf and made off with his rag-and-bones cart and the beloved beast who pulled it. Now, come hell or high water, Minnie Maude means to rescue Charlie -- and Gracie decides to help. But the path that Uncle Alf had taken to his death was not his regular route, and in his cart were not just the usual bits of worn silver and china but also, the children are told, a dazzling golden box. What its contents may have been no one can say, for, like Charlie and the cart, it too has vanished.

Uncertain where their four-legged friend may be, the children are drawn into an adult world far beyond their innocent imaginings. And in a shop gleaming with beautiful objects, they recruit an unexpected ally: Mr. Balthasar, who warns them that the shining prize may be a Pandora's box of evil.

Set in the Victorian world where Anne Perry reigns supreme, A Christmas Promise culminates in a radiant finale that will remain with you long after the final page is turned.

Anne Perry: A Christmas Promise. A Novel. Ballantine Books, ISBN: 9780345510662 (October, 2009), 193 p., $18.00.