Christmas shopping can be murder.
It’s Christmas Eve at the Emporium, a bespoke gift shop hidden in the depths of London’s winding streets, where a select few shoppers are browsing its handcrafted delights.
But when they go to leave, they find the doors are locked and it isn’t long before they realise this is no innocent mix-up. The shoppers have been trapped here by someone who knows their darkest secrets, who will stop at nothing until they have all been unwrapped – and there is a gruesome gift waiting in Santa’s grotto . . .
For those that survive the night, it will be a Christmas to remember.
Another book I read during my Christmas hiatus and this one was a huge amount of fun. Shoppers trapped in a luxury department store on Christmas Eve start getting bumped off one by one, what could possibly be more festive?
I really loved the world-building in this book which seems an odd thing to say bout a novel that is not fantasy but I am not sure how else to describe how beautifully the author sets up the history of the Emporium so that it leads up to the enchanting Christmas wonderland that everyone is fighting to be invited to on Christmas Eve for an exclusive shopping event. (Although, anyone who leaves their Christmas shopping until the evening of Christmas Eve is the kind of psychopath that deserves everything they have coming to them, to be honest.) Murder aside, the Emporium is the kind of magical place that you wish existed in real life.
This is the kind of book which would translate brilliantly to a Christmas TV special. Anyone who loves the festive murder mysteries such as the Christmas episodes of Midsomer Murders or the Murder on the Blackpool Express series will love this book. It is the kind of over-the-top, awful people, ludicrous murders, complicated back stories and motives novel that is ideal as entertainment for this time of year. Most of the characters turn out to have nefarious motives or dodgy pasts and any of them could be the murderer, until they become a victim, of course. There are flashbacks to ill-doings of the past which leave a breadcrumb trail of clues as to who the murderer is and why they are doing it. Much less gruesome that yesterday’s book too so even people of a delicate disposition will enjoy it.
I thoroughly enjoyed this slice of midwinter mayhem and can highly recommend it. I also loved the last book by this author, 12 Days of Murder, and I look forward to more Christmas mysteries from this author.
Murder at the Christmas Emporium is out now in hardback, ebook and audio formats and you can buy a copy here.
About the Author
Andreina Cordani has a background in journalism, working for women’s magazines including That’s Life, Cosmopolitan and Good Housekeeping. Specialising in ‘real life’ stories, she interviews seemingly ordinary people about their extraordinary lives – most of which you wouldn’t believe if you read it in a novel.
She lives on the Dorset coast with her family where she reads voraciously, watches YouTubers with increasing fascination and swims in the sea.
Connect with Andreina:
Website: https://andreinacordani.com
Facebook: Andreina Cordani
Twitter: @AndreinaCordani
Instagram: @andreinacordani
TikTok: @acordanixo
