Guest post by Katherine Fletcher
A gift usually comes with a name. When it doesn’t, even a small present can give a roomful of friends plenty to discuss.
In The Christmas Keepsake, Beverly Chase arrives at Kettle Creek Community Church with ginger cookies for a morning of Christmas preparations. Tucked behind the plate is an anonymous present. Inside, a blue glass bird is addressed to Helena Ostrowski. There’s a thank-you note, but no signature.
Helena thinks she recognizes the ornament. That creates another question: why would someone return a keepsake she sold years ago?
Beverly and her book-club friends follow the clues through wrapping supplies, memories that don’t quite agree, and an unusual sale. It’s a short mystery about friendship and a Christmas kindness remembered, with room for the Thursday Book Club to offer a few opinions along the way.
The Christmas Keepsake is free on BookFunnel. It’s a complete standalone story, so you can meet the friends here without having read their other cases. If you already know them, it’s another visit to Kettle Creek before Advent Secret.
A short mystery is handy when you want to finish something between longer books. You can follow one small puzzle without committing to a whole new series, then decide whether you’d like to spend more time with the people who solved it.
This one starts with an ordinary object that means different things to different people. An ornament may look familiar, but remembering where it came from can be harder than expected. That gives Beverly a good reason to listen carefully.
If you’d like to continue afterward, my website has the books and reader extras, including news of Advent Secret, coming December 1.
Have you ever received a gift without knowing who sent it? Would you enjoy guessing, or would you want the answer straight away?