Description:

Instead of presents this Christmas, a true crime podcaster is opening up a cold case…

Madeline Martin has built a life for herself as the young owner of a thriving business, The Next Chapter Bookshop, despite her tragic childhood and now needing to care for her infirm father. When Harley Granger, a failed novelist turned true crime podcaster, drifts into her shop in the days before Christmas, he seems intent on digging up events that Madeline would much rather forget. She’s the only surviving victim of Evan Handy, the man who was convicted of murdering her best friend Steph, and is suspected in the disappearance of two sisters, also good friends of Madeline’s, who have been missing for nearly a decade. It’s an investigation that has obsessed her father Sheriff James Martin right up until his stroke took his faculties.

Harley Granger has a gift for seeing things that others miss. He wasn’t much of a novelist, but his work as a true crime author and podcaster has earned him fame and wealth—and some serious criticism for his various unethical practices. Still, visiting Little Valley to be closer to his dying father has caused him to look into a case that many people think is closed—and some want reopened. And he has a lot of questions about the night Stephanie Cramer was killed, Ainsley and Sam Wallace disappeared, and Madeline Martin was left for dead, bleeding out on a riverbank.

Since Evan Handy went to jail, three other young women have gone missing, most recently a young college dropout named Lolly. Five young women missing in the same area in a decade. Are they connected? Was Evan Handy innocent after all? Or was there some else there that night? Someone who is still satisfying his dark appetites?

As Christmas approaches and a blizzard bears down, Madeline and her childhood friend Badger return to a past they both hoped was dead—to find the missing Lolly and to answer questions that have haunted them both, discovering that the truth is more terrible and much closer to home than they think.

Coupling a picturesque, cozy setting with a deeply unsettling suspenseful plot, Christmas Presents is a chilling seasonal novella that can be enjoyed all year long.

Adele’s Review:

This reviewer confesses to being a huge Lisa Unger fan who has read all of her books, including her novellas and short stories, since the beginning of her career. Full disclosure, I admit to being enthusiastic about her work. When I was offered an advance copy of Christmas Presents to read and review, I immediately accepted. Lisa’s books are always unique and compelling, and this holiday thriller is no exception.

Christmas Presents gives readers the mystery and suspense of a full-length novel, since it’s packed with relatable characters, perfect pacing, and great writing. We see through the eyes of the central characters in alternating sequence as they attempt to solve a ten-year old cold case. The story is dark–this is no sweet holiday tale–but Unger brings light to the darkness by adding a welcome touch of romance and the gift of hope to its resolution, which I loved. Every story should have a happy ending, especially at Christmas.

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5640380089

Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BW26WPC2