The late ( and great) Anne Perry wrote a whole bunch of novels that mixed mystery with romance…with “ heavy” on the romance. Her Christmas stories tended to follow a similar format but invariably would be very satisfying. “A Christmas Deliverence” is no different.: a doctor and his apprentice work with London’s poor…who are cold and many are starving. There is a young girl in need of their help and …well, all you Anne Perry fans please enjoy this novella.

This authors' books are usually very good. For some reason this one seemed a little trite and could not hold my interest. It was quite predictable. Despite being a Christmas book, there was very little of Christmas mentioned. She did capture the scenery, general ways of doing things and events of that time in history. Good quick read. I was provided an advanced reader copy but was under no obligation to review. The opinions expressed are my own. Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for he opportunity to read tis book.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. I was able to find he audio version through my local library.
You know I have read from this author before and I have really enjoyed her books. But this one was just a bit flat for me. I really didn't care at all about the characters. I am not sure why the audio book is read by an old sounding woman. To me it should have been read by a man since the main characters are men. So I recommend that you read it instead of listen to it.
The story was a bit boring. It was only a 4.5/5 hours audio but it felt longer. I think the story dragged on too long and there really is not much about Christmas at all. Just a mention here and there. But like I said I have really loved all the other books from this author, but this one was a miss for me.

I wasn't sure what to expect with "Christmas" in the title. A feel good Christmas story? This was a very fast paced book with lots of twists and turns and I enjoyed it very much.

I really enjoyed this introduction into this world and I just couldn’t get enough of it. I just so thoroughly enjoyed meeting these new characters and getting to go on their journey. I will most definitely be reading more wonderful books from this author.

★★★★ ☐ The publisher has provided a copy for review.

Continuing in the Christmas series, this story delights with mysteries solved, oppression relieved, and likable characters. Perry describes the city of Dickens in ways that draw the reader in.

A wonderful happy read in the end. Don't miss this; you can make Christmas last all year ...

This was a quick paced Holiday read with a great plot. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Many thanks to Random House and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is an author that I have enjoyed reading from the first book I picked up. The stories are hard to put down and pull you into the mystery from the beginning. This book is no different. This is a Christmas mystery that will some suspense to your season. They characters pulled me in from the start and they added so much to the story. I enjoyed how connectable and brought the story to life. They are strong, creative and supportive of each other. There is great growth of the plot which added to the story. This is an easy story to read which made it entertaining as well. I highly recommend this book and this author.

Anne Perry brings us another fabulous Christmas story. This time we follow a doctor who runs a free clinic where many of his patients are unable to pay but pay in other ways. Dr. Crowe is now training a young Scuff, who is Thomas and Charlotte Pitt's adopted son. A young girl arrives and joins Dr. Crowe and Scuff in the clinic since it appears that she has no family or warm place to stay. When the doctor goes out to figure out a mystery, he relays on many of his current and former patients to provide him with the information he needs to solve the mystery. This heartwarming story will keep you wanting to read and will put you in a holiday season feeling.

This is a wonderful mystery book with a Vintage Christmas vibe.
An old-time doctor, along with his apprentice that was an orphan he took in off of the streets and taught him everything he knows, have a free clinic set up on the Banks of the Thames.
He is a no-nonsense doctor but kindly, accepting fish wrapped in newspaper, whatever fruit is in season or odd jobs done for him. He knows not to make the poor feel unworthy or they won't come to his clinic until it's too late.
There is the sweetest little street urchin in the story, just five years old and she brings a kitten barely weaned as payment for taking care of her cut. She shows such bravery and even helps out the old doctor handing him towels and doing other small chores and in return gets delicious and nutritious meals.
There is just enough of a mystery to keep the reader reading and intrigued.
The setting feels as though you are watching a feel-good old-time movie.
The author has many books out, but I've only read two of them, both Christmas mysteries.
I really do need to read more of her books, they are so well written.

Pub Date 08 Nov 2022
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Enjoyed reading about Scuff and his progress in life. The mystery kept me guessing.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Victorian London during the Christmas season conjures up warm, nostalgic feelings of glowing lights, greenery and berries, holiday parties, roasted chestnuts… but Anne Perry’s latest takes the reader to the bleak streets and back alleys, a clinic for the poor, and a rush to get answers to a mystery that might save a sweet young woman from a cruel fate for Christmas.

In this nineteenth Christmas stories release, A Christmas Deliverance returns us to the world of William Monk mysteries and focuses on engaging side characters, Crowe and Scuff. Readers don’t have to have read the William Monk series to enjoy the story, but long-time fans of the series will be well-rewarded to see what has come along since the events of the last book for the man practicing medicine without his degree in the meaner parts of London and the one-time mudlark orphan taken in by William and Hester Monk who wishes to follow his adopted mother into medicine.

Crowe finds himself in what he believes is a one-sided unrequited love for a sweet daughter of a wealthy London businessman who owns warehouses and a wharf along the Thames. He knows she’s out of his class and he tries to be content with thinking of her fondly. But then her father plans to marry her to the cruel, abusive son of his business partner. Crowe knows the only way to save her might not save her at all- but he has to try. He has to return to the mysterious events of the fire that consumed one of her father’s warehouses and his business partner’s goods, the death of the night watchman, and the subsequent insurance payout that increased their wealth. Scuff backs him completely even though they both face danger from someone who doesn’t want the incident brought back to light again since Monk and his River Police didn’t find evidence at the time of foul play.

I love how the author blends sweet elements like the little street girl and her kitty, the homey feeling at the clinic that Crowe and Scuff run together and then the harder biting mystery they must solve out on London’s streets and along the Thames set against the holidays. It was all so marvelously done and I was reluctant to let the book go when the last page was reached.

Anne Perry again features a Christmas tale from her series. A Christmas Deliverance involves Scuff, the adopted son of William Monk, head of the River Police for the Thames, London.. Scuff's trainer, Dr. Crowe, provides free medical care and surgery to the poor along the river. The Doctor had helped Ellie, a wealthy merchant's daughter
and had hidden feelings for her. Ellie is betrothed to someone who mistreats her; her father is under obligation to the man and his father. A death and missing shipments lie behind what is happening. Can Dr. Crowe and Monk solve the case and resolve things for a Christmas Deliverance. Great Christmas story.

Having read many of Anne Perrys Christmas Novellas I often wonder why they are inhabited by such dislikable people? Well, not all of them - there are actually some pretty wonderful people in this Novella. Perry gets her characters so perfectly that with a few sentences we know who to trust and admire and who are the villains.

“Christmas was in the air, with bright decorations in the windows … but what was Christmas without a family?” Before the last page is turned Perry had given me a frank and demanding definition of what constitutes a family, of truly belonging. On reflection I liked this book so much more than I originally thought.

Thank you Ballantine Books and NetGalley for a copy.

It's a week before Christmas and Dr. Crowe and his young assistant, Will "Scuff" Monk, are helping the poor at their river-front clinic in Victorian London. But Crowe can't forget a young woman—one of means—who ended up at his clinic nearly a year ago after a serious carriage accident. Crowe had saved her life, and he and Eliza "Ellie" Hollister had become close while he cared for her.

He purposely passes by her house on his return from a patient's house—and does see Ellie. It's not a happy moment, though. She is in an argument with her fiancé, Paul Dolan, and Crowe sees Dolan slap her. Ellie doesn't seem happy with the impending marriage, and Crowe quickly figures out it must have to do with the fathers—Ellie's father, Albert Hollister, and Paul's father, Silas Dolan, are in a business arrangement. And, coincidentally, there was a recent arson fire at one of Hollister's warehouses, which not only burned Dolan's inventory but killed a night watchman. Is Ellie's betrothal part of an insurance fraud and blackmail situation? And can Crowe save her from this fate?

Crowe begins to investigate, questioning those he knows among the Thames river-front. Scuff, the adopted son of William and Hester Monk (from Perry's long-running series), also joins Crowe in the investigation. As a former mudlark, an orphan on the streets, Scuff can also easily talk to others on the river-front.

Although this is a short novella that can be read in a few hours, Perry has packed a lot of characterization, tension and warmth into the story. She writes, "For Crowe, life was about a future that one could change, not a past one could not." This philosophy drives both men to the truth—and to a Christmas that will change their futures.

This is one of Perry's better Christmas novellas from recent years. If you want a quick feel-good holiday story, this one certainly delivers.

§ Lourdes Venard is an editor for an education nonprofit and a copy editing instructor with the University of California, San Diego. She lives in Washington State.

A Christmas Deliverance is a cozy Christmas book. In the tradition of A Christmas Carol it centers on the class struggles between rich and poor in England many years ago. There are heroes and villains. My problem with this book was it was very simple and predictable. I did not find anything original about it. I thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I had a hard time getting through this story. It was full of Crowe’s thoughts and didn’t have much dialogue. I wanted to know how the story ended so I skipped to the end which was the best part of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Meh. Not a great one. Pretty simplistic plot. Thanks to NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Dr. Crowe, working on the banks of the river, caring for the impoverished, many of them homeless, people and the people who work on the boats, finds himself racing to rescue a young woman, Ellie, who is having an altercation with her fiance. He knows the fiance is up to no good but has no idea how to solve the problem. Meanwhile, back at his medical office, Scuff, William Monk's adopted son, is helping a very young child who has been injured. Mattie has no money to pay, so the next day she brings the clinic her prized possession, a tiny kitten. Scuff decides to create a home for Mattie and her kitten.

Dr. Crowe seems to spend a good deal of time fretting about Ellie and trying to work out that problem, leaving Scuff to run the clinic. Even though this is a Christmas novella, there is really very little about Christmas in this particular book.

The last couple of years, I have read Anne Perry's Christmas novellas. There is something about a Victorian Christmas that gets me into the holiday mood.

A Christmas Deliverance features a young doctor who runs a clinic for the poor who live and work around the Thames River. A horrible horse and cart accident occurs near the clinic and Dr. Crowe rushes to save the life of a woman who is pinned under a cart. She must stay at his clinic for a few days as she recovers and they spend a lot of time getting to know one another. Months after she has recovered he sees her on the corner with a man. They are arguing and the man slaps her. Crowe again rushes to her aide and his learns this man is her fiance. Crowe cannot understand why she intends to marry this man who she clearly detests.

This book is lighter on the Christmas aspect than the previous two I've read. Since I read these stories to get into the Christmas mood, I was a little disappointed.

I think this would have been better as a short story, rather than a novella. There is a lot of repetition. Some of it is necessary to show Crowe's worry and uncertainty surrounding his actions in regards to investigating the possible arson and insurance fraud at Ellie's father's warehouse. But some of it just felt like it was there to fulfill a word count.

I really liked the characters. Most of the story is focused on Crowe, but we also get a few scenes with his apprentice Scuff. And there is the waif of a girl who Scuff and Crowe take in. She is probably 4 or 5. My heart broke a little when she offered her kitten as payment for Crowe stitching up a cut on her finger. The kitten is probably the only thing she has. it is her best friend. Thankfully Scuff recognizes the true cost to the girl and with sensitivity to her pride and dignity offers her a solution - she must also stay at the clinic to look after the kitten for them. This gives the child a safe place to sleep, food, and maybe more importantly a purpose as she helps around the clinic. She is adorable.

My review will be published at Girl Who Reads on Monday - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2022/12/3-very-different-christmas-stories-for.html