At 212 pages, Charles Todd’s A Christmas Witness is the longest novella I’ve ever read. It’s also tedious, and repetitive. Nothing happens except for a man who swears he sees a ghost and changes his life a la Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
Because he’s unmarried and doesn’t have children, Chief Inspector Ian Rutledge is selected to go to Kent over Christmas. He was also an officer in the Great War, so Colonel Edward Braxton might be comfortable with him. Braxton turns out to be a curmudgeon who claims a man on a hunter rode at him from the woods, and the horse hit him in the head with his horseshoe. Braxton is still recovering from his head injury. He swears he’ll be dead by Christmas.
Rutledge does what he can to investigate, but there are no hunters in the area. His best attempts to appease Colonel Braxton are met with anger and claims Braxton did what he could during the war, but officers are often blamed for the orders they gave and the men who died. Rutledge understands. He’s haunted by the voice of Corporal Hamish MacLeod, a man he was forced to execute on the battlefield because MacLeod refused to obey orders and continue to fight.
Rutledge can’t find any clues or suspects. He even requests police officers patrol the grounds of Braxton’s estate. On Christmas Eve, Braxton leaves the house in his nightclothes and coat. It’s only the next day that Rutledge learns the truth behind Braxton’s claims.
As I said, the book is not only long for a novella, it felt long. It was slow-paced and repetitive as Rutledge struggles to find answers and reviews his notes, so he reviews everything that has already happened. The best part of the book was the account of Rutledge’s stay at Percival’s Rest, the local inn. As for the title, A Christmas Witness, Braxton makes a turnaround thanks to his dreams, and, as with Scrooge, he becomes a witness to Christmas. This book, however, lacks the feeling and style of A Christmas Carol.
Charles Todd’s website is https://charlestodd.com/
A Christmas Witness by Charles Todd. The Mysterious Press, 2025. 212p.
FTC Full Disclosure – I received a copy from the publisher with no expectation of a positive review.
I tend to stay away from Charles Todd books- I want them to end as soon as they have started.
I understand, Carol.
Up until now, I think I’ve read all the Charles Todd books and enjoyed some of them very much, and all of them enough to read to the end (I stop reading lots of books after 50-100 pages because I’m not interested enough to finish them.) Sounds like I will give this one a miss.
Kim, Why skip it just because I wasn’t a fan? You might like it as much as you like the other books. Or, you might decide it isn’t for you. Give it 50-100 pages, and see if you think I’m wrong.
I agree! I’m really struggling with this one. I want to like it, but Rutledge is not the same as before and the editing could be better. CS Markham is “Markum” throughout. Did you notice this book is with a new publisher? Hopefully the next books will be back to better standards.
Fortunately, it’s short, K. But, like you, I struggled to finish it. You’re right. Editing could be much tighter. It’s too repetitive for me. I didn’t notice the publisher change, but I haven’t read a lot of the previous books, just several here and there. I’m sorry for true fans.
I agree with the previous comments regarding repetitive and boring, and I’d add way too formal for the Rutledge character. I stayed with it to the end, and am hoping future books get back to the original style of writing.