I love Christmas stories.
Well, I love Christmas in general, but stories set in country houses with decorated trees, and snow outside, and the smells of baking and the sounds of carols…all of that goes so beautifully with knives and poisons, doesn’t it?
Christmas in its nature is a solstice celebration, an assertion of light in the darkness. And in the hemisphere of mystery tales, Christmas stories are a touch of darkness against the light. Family, gifts, happy children, rich food….and death.
Or at least crime, of some kind. And in the case of a very young Mary Russell, Christmas is an ideal time to pick up criminal tips and a piece of equipment that will become iconic of her in her later memoirs: her throwing knife.
“Mary’s Christmas” is that tale of young Mary and her rascally Uncle Jake, which is in the collection Mary Russell’s War.
Last year, Team LRK did an illustrated version of the story, and this year my publishers are giving it away. It’s structured as a sweepstakes, but the story will drop into your in-box on the 20th. Just in time to give you a touch of light in your darkness. The giveaway is here. Enjoy!
(And for the other Russell Christmas tale, “Stately Holmes,” go here.)