Christmas at the Keep: A moving and uplifting festive novella to escape with at Christmas

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The house they converge on may be fictional, but everywhere else they go is likely to be very familiar – the Dartington Hall gardens and Cider Press Centre, the Cott Inn, Buckfast Abbey, various galleries and cafes in Totnes. So this is her last full-length novel, though I understand there’s one more novella which has recently been published, not yet out in paperback.

Eleanor - El - is the main character, or at least the one I most related to in this warm, character-driven novel.

Apparently ‘Missee Lee’ is one of two books in the series which are considered not to fit with the rest. That’s the case for ‘A Collector of Hearts’, a novella that I apparently downloaded about a decade ago but have only just read. She displayed the courage and stoicism I associate with many of her more mature characters, one of whom states that ‘old age is not for cissies! I’m not far off: 94 completed, and a couple I’m reading slowly that I should finish on December 31st.

However that’s nothing to what they all feel for the spoilt, unintelligent Gwendoline who thinks a great deal of herself and tries to manipulate people and circumstances to suit her own purposes. Their previous acquaintance Dan Start, a journalist, pops up and tries to flirt with Peter, but she really has no eyes for anyone except David. Marcia Willett's early life was devoted to the ballet, but her dreams of becoming a ballerina ended when she grew out of the classical proportions required.These diverse people are introduced somewhat randomly as they meet each other, initially at a viewing of a flat that’s for sale, and much is made of it being on the day before New Year’s Eve. I thought it was very well done, within the bounds of a pocket-novel or novella format, with a positive outcome… and then an epilogue that complemented the story nicely, though to say anything else would be too much of a spoiler. There are lots of bits of background that get filled in, sometimes in chapters that are shorter than a single page; I couldn’t keep everything in my mind, so when I was part-way through the book I went back to re-read some of the introductory section. Inspector Hemingway has a sense of the ridiculous and a great deal of insight, and gets considerably more information from everyone - including the household staff - by his friendliness and sympathetic attitude. Although I’ve read it twice, the last time being just six years ago, I had pretty much forgotten the story, and had no recollection of who committed the crime, or how it was done.

It’s a good story, one I liked reading; I wonder if I’ll remember the plot better when I re-read it in another decade or so. The Chalke History Festival announces a new name, new look, and tons for history buffs to get their teeth into!His Bob Lee Swagger series took the world by storm in the 90s, and he has a new collection of novellas this month featuring Bob Lee, Earl and Charles. The bad guys also work on Dossie, who runs a small catering company and cares for her elderly parents. When she told me earlier this year that she had inoperable cancer and that the best she could hope for was to be kept comfortable, her concern was not for her own sufferings, but solely that she’d be able to finish her last book. She only started her career as a novelist aged 50, having previously worked as a ballet dancer and teacher.

They’re comfortable and well-fed, and Missee Lee is quite friendly - if insistent on hard work - but they are her prisoners, unable to escape or even move from her island. They’re much older now, somewhat bemused at the passing of time - which feels very familiar to me - and beginning to feel their age. And that is just the work she has published under her own name, she has even written some novels under the pen name Willa Marsh.And we’ve been told that it will be even milder in the week, anything from around 18C to 20C in the south of England. It’s part of who these people are, not at all preachy, and could be glossed over by people without any interest in issues of faith. She’s the only companion who has ever been able to stand up to her employer, and hopes she won’t overstep the boundaries.