A Christmas Beginning

Perry plucks Superintendent Runcorn from her William Monk series and gives him an outing of his own. Runcorn, single, crusty, and a loner, decides to spend the Christmas season on a remote island off Wales. What are the chances he'll run into both a body and Melisande, a woman with whom he was once in love? Terrence Hardiman brings Runcorn to life with an age-appropriate voice and inflections that reflect his personality. Perry's descriptions of the barren landscape; proud, reticent villagers; and the sensible Melisande (the name just rolls off Hardiman's tongue) are expertly realized in audio. Despite his abrasiveness, listeners will hope Runcorn gets the murderer and the girl, thanks to a sympathetic portrayal and a good story. J.B.G. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

August 13, 2007
Mystery author Perry returns to holiday fare (after last year’s A Christmas Secret
) and sends rumpled London policeman Runcorn to a lonely Welsh island for Christmas, where he gets pulled into the case of the murder of Olivia Costain, the town vicar’s lively single sister. Runcorn employs his bare-knuckle investigative skills in interviewing Olivia’s family and her various suitors, to the chagrin of the local constable, Sir Alan Faraday, whose pursuit Olivia rejected. Runcorn’s modest, unflashy ways carry this moody, understated mystery.