When Christmas Comes is a novella by Andrew Klavan and is Book 1 in the Cameron Winter Mysteries.
You might be asking yourself why in the world would I be reviewing a Christmas novella in the early Spring? Because it was a gift from my oldest son who thought I might like it. He gambled and won.
Not only is this novella an unusual mystery but it has its heartrending moments of the protagonist's bleak loneliness producing stark desires he is forced to suffocate.
Cameron Winter is an interesting character who has subjected himself to a therapist who is just clever enough to unearth those hurting parts of Winter's past without him actually expressing them. Christmastime has an unacceptable way of reviving the worst of his memories through the recollections of some of his best.
Cameron Winter will tell you he's an English Professor, but as the story travails through his vivid remembrances that usually occur either in the therapist's office or after their meetings, the subtleties of who Winter might have been become more conspicuous.
When a hometown hero and single father, former Army Ranger Travis Blake, confesses to murdering his girlfriend Jennifer Dean, the town is shaken by the brutality. His court-appointed attorney (Vicki) can't get him to talk to her, even though she believes he's innocent. Vicki, now married to a military man herself, seeks out her former high school sweetheart, Winter, to help her find anything that might point to his innocence in what appears to be a heinous murder. What Winter uncovers is as mysterious as Travis Blake's confession.
This is one of those haunting, noir-type, "literary" mysteries with complex nuances from classic literature, written with succinct attention to style and vocabulary. Insert a unique protagonist and some strange but effectively done characters in some bizarre situations, and you have this interesting murder mystery with a Christmas background ending in an insightful conclusion for Cameron Winter.
Definitely recommend this one. A series for murder mystery lovers seeking out an unusual tale with a literary touch. A quick read.
Father, thank you for the unusual, the creative touches of all of the writers you've endowed with these gifts. Please continue to supply the stories just for Andrew to tell. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.