WHY DID I LISTEN TO A NEW YORK CHRISTMAS BY ANNE PERRY?

A New York Christmas is a book that has been on my TBR in 2014 as an ARC. I think it has just been a case of too many books not enough time. When I found the audiobook on Libby, I immediately borrowed it so that I could complete this one for my 2021 Christmas in July celebration. I had not read any of Anne Perry's previous books.

WHAT’S THE STORY HERE?

Anne Perry is a mystery writer who has written several different series. In A New York Christmas, she takes Jemima Pitt, who is the daughter of the main characters in her Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series, and has her go on her own adventure. Jemima is accompanying a female companion as she travels from London to the New York to marry her fiancé'. At first the trip seems to be a thing of dreams but within a couple of days, she discovers that things are not always as they seem. When Jemima finds herself involved in a murder mystery, she must rely on her intuition and the skills she has learned from her father. Especially when she realizes that she really has no one in New York that she can trust.

WHAT DID I THINK OF A NEW YORK CHRISTMAS?

Mysteries are not my usual cup of tea however, I still wanted to give this one a try as it was supposed to have a bit of a holiday feel to it. Honestly, it didn't feel like this was truly a mystery story. Yes, there was a mystery but, I figured it out relatively quickly and so did the protagonist Jemima. This was more a story of waiting and seeing if Jemima was able to use what she had figured out and get herself out of danger.

A New York Christmas is set in 1904. I didn't really feel like there was much holiday spirit within it. There were a few descriptions of snow but nothing that held my attention and screamed Christmas to me. There was also a hint of romance between Jemima and the chief of police but, I also wasn't very captivated by that. I just didn't capture my attention in the way that I had thought it would.

HOW’S THE NARRATION?

A New York Christmas is 3 hours and 49 minutes unabridged. It it narrated by Saskia Maarleveld and I listened to it at 1.75x speed which did not effect the flow of the story. If anything it may have helped the flow of a story which I wasn't fully captivated by. The narrator did have a very soothing even voice which made the story easy to listen to.