Christmas in the Snow

I haven't indulged as much as I normally would this Christmas in festive themed books, I've read a couple but have struggled to find that Christmas vibe. I wanted to give just one more a chance this year and for that I returned to my most trusted and respected author for Christmas books, Karen Swan and her 2014 release Christmas In The Snow.

To be very fair this book was a bit of a slow burner to begin with. We begin the book in 1951 with a flashback to a woman being trapped in a hut during an avalanche but it takes some time for this to return to the story. Instead we switch to present day and the lives of Isobel and Allegra, two very different sisters. Isobel is a married mother of a young baby, content in her domesticity whilst Allegra trades hedge funds worth billions of dollars, literally living in her office and trying to fit into a world driven by men.

Snow spends a lot of time focusing on Allegra and the latest deal she is trying to secure with Chinese businessman,Yong and along the way her Canadian colleague Sam Kemp comes in and using his connections to the Yong family tries to steal the deal. All this is played out against a growing attraction between Allegra and Sam, but Allegra as always puts business first.

We are given small snippets of information though about a body which has been discovered in the Swiss Alps, of a woman who disappeared in 1951 whom the police believe is Allegra and Isobel's Grandmother, Valentina. With their mother in the grip of Alzheimer's they cannot ask the burning questions as to how this woman can possibly be their grandmother when they buried her 20 years before.

Armed only with an old wooden advent calendar and lots of questions the sisters head to the Swiss Alps to find out more and deal with the burial of their grandmothers remains. Whilst there they find themselves running into Sam Kemp and his friends, one of whom is the son of the businessman Allegra so wanted to capture as a client.

From there we are invited into a story which is, as Swan always seems to achieve, glamorous and touching at the same time. It is a beautiful setting for a Christmas novel. The intrigue of Allegra's career and business deal plays out alongside the mystery of her grandmother's death and both seem very separate entities but Swan manages to tie them back together beautifully.

Swan has a very rare gift of managing to always bring a real sense of sparkle and warmth to her books. The settings are always beautiful and her characters warm and likeable.

It is a joy each year to delve into her Christmas books and yet never are they twee or predictable. It's a very special writer that can do that year on year.