A Christmas Case Read online

  ‘I think so, too.’

  ‘This wasn’t an accident, was it? Us meeting on the train like this?’

  The man hooted with laughter.

  ‘Very far from it. Although for a moment there I thought you might not get on… I was watching you, loitering at the second-class section. I sent that guard fella down to get you.’

  ‘Ah. I see.’

  And as the train sped off, Posie realised that her earlier thoughts held true: maybe things weren’t quite so bad.

  They were definitely looking up.

  And it was still Christmas.

  And Christmas is magical, after all.

  ****

  Thanks for joining Posie Parker and her friends.

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  Historical Note

  All of the characters in this book are fictional, unless specifically mentioned below. However, timings, general political events, weather conditions and places are all historically accurate to the best of my knowledge, save for the exceptions and details which are listed below.

  As ever, both Posie’s work address (Grape Street, Bloomsbury, WC1) and her home address round the corner (Museum Chambers, WC1) in London are both real, although you might have to do a bit of imagining to find her there.

  1. Rebburn Abbey in Yorkshire is fictional. I have placed it in my imagination somewhere to the west of York, near to Tockwith.

  2. Gamages Department Store on High Holborn was one of the premier toyshops in London during the period this novel is set in.

  3. When Rufus, Earl Cardigeon, refers to the Christmas ghost stories of M.R. James he is of course referring to the incomparable talent of Montague Rhodes James (1862–1936), a medieval scholar and professor at Cambridge University, who often put together a ghost story for telling to friends on Christmas Eve.

  4. For how Posie Parker spent Christmas 1917, please see The Vanishing of Dr Winter: A Posie Parker Mystery #4: https://www.amazon.com/Vanishing-Dr-Winter-Parker-Mystery-ebook/dp/B01BHDLM9G/

  5. Tyne Cot Memorial (as mentioned at Chapter Two) is the huge Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial ground for the dead of the First World War. It is located outside of Passchendaele, Zonnebeke, Belgium.

  6. There is no such province in India as Udaraj, as mentioned in Chapter Two.

  7. The love song sung by Andromeda Keene at Chapter Two is a traditional Irish folk song, which has many versions, and is thought to hail from County Donegal. The most well-known version is ‘She Moved Through the Fayre.’

  8. The Hotel Bristol in Broadstairs, Kent (Chapter Three) is an invention of my own.

  9. In Chapter Three I mention Broadstairs becoming ‘Italianised’, although this happened in reality much later than 1903, in the period of the 1930s–1950s.

  10. The North Foreland Golf Club is real and was created in 1903 by Sir William Capel Slaughter, being dramatically extended after 1918. The red flags of the clubhouse are my own fancy however.

  11. The Morning Legend newspaper as mentioned in Chapter Three is fictional.

  12. In Chapter Four Inspector Lovelace refers to Jack the Ripper, and for clarity’s sake Jack the Ripper was working in Whitechapel in 1888, ten years before Lovelace started work as a bobby-on-the-beat.

  13. In Chapter Four Lovelace refers to Emmeline Pankhurst’s Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) formed in October 1903 for its ‘deeds, not words’. It went on to become militant and notorious for physical confrontations, often with the police.

  ****

  Acknowledgements and Further Reading

  Please note that this story is a work of fiction and does not in any way seek to portray the characters, appearances or histories of any real person, living or dead.

  This novella does however pay a certain homage to the incomparable Agatha Christie Christmas story featuring Miss Jane Marple, A Christmas Tragedy, in that several characters are gathered together at a party at Christmas, storytelling.

  And by dint of doing so, they solve a real crime.

  ****

  About the Author

  Cambridge-educated, British-born L.B. Hathaway writes historical fiction. She worked as a lawyer at Lincoln’s Inn in London for almost a decade before becoming a full-time writer. She is a lifelong fan of detective novels set in the Golden Age of Crime, and is an ardent Agatha Christie devotee.

  Her other interests, in no particular order, are: very fast downhill skiing, theatre-going, drinking strong tea, Tudor history, exploring castles and generally trying to cram as much into life as possible.

  The Posie Parker series of cosy crime novels span the 1920s. They each combine a core central mystery, an exploration of the reckless glamour of the age and a feisty protagonist who you would love to have as your best friend.

  To find out more and for news of new releases and giveaways, go to:

  http://www.lbhathaway.com

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