Happy Christmas

I know, “Merry Christmas” seems more usual, but I’ve come across “Happy Christmas” a few times, I think mainly in British literature. So … is this a British thing? Anyway, here’s wishing a happy Christmas and merry holidays to everyone.

Work proceeds apace for A Pretender’s Murder. After some discussion with my publisher, they’ve pushed the release date back to early 2025. Would have been autumn 2024, but apparently there’s an election happening in the US at that time which might get in the way of a book launch. Early 2025 works for me, though: it’s even more breathing room, and we seem to be digging even deeper now into the characters and the motivation and all that good stuff.

As it so happens, A Pretender’s Murder opens on New Year’s Eve 1924 (though it’s mostly set in March 1925) so it seems a bit apropos now to share this early passage:

Eric breathed in the welcome aroma of roast goose rolling in from the dining room, the high spirits, and the laughter from the lounge upstairs. He’d missed Christmas Day itself, thanks to an obligation to a former sergeant, but New Year’s Eve was only the seventh day of Christmas, and the Britannia Club celebrated all twelve in a grand fashion. Under wreaths of holly, the walnut panelling gleamed as though soaked in oil, and the polished brass fittings flared in the flicker of candlelight. This was the one time of the year when guests were allowed up the grand staircase to the club lounge, so the marbled hallways echoed with the unfamiliar joy of those normally left behind.