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Scuff has come a long way from his time as a penniless orphan scraping together a living on the banks of the Thames. Now he's studying medicine at a free clinic run by Dr. Crowe, a thoughtful if stoic mentor. But lately Crowe has been distracted, having witnessed an altercation between a wealthy former patient of his
named Ellie—a woman he not only treated but developed unacknowledged feelings for—and her controlling fiancé. It seems that someone is forcing Ellie to marry the man. When Crowe's emotions come flooding back, he sets out to uncover the troubling connections between Ellie, her father, and her betrothed.
With Crowe engrossed in his investigation just weeks before the holidays, Scuff is left to run the clinic on his own, treating London's poor and vulnerable. In the holiday spirit, he offers Mattie, a young girl in need, a warm place to stay as the winter chill sweeps through the
city. Together, Scuff and Mattie must also fend off the police, who are growing suspicious of Crowe's amateur sleuthing. Will Crowe be able to help Ellie, and will Scuff be able to ensure that he and Mattie—and all of their patients—have a safe and peaceful Christmas?
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Creators
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Series
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Publisher
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Release date
November 8, 2022 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781705036075
- File size: 155033 KB
- Duration: 05:22:59
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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September 26, 2022
Bestseller Perry’s fine 20th Christmas-themed crime novel set in the same Victorian world as her William Monk and Charlotte and Thomas Pitt books (after 2021’s A Christmas Legacy) features Dr. Crowe, an idealist who runs a free medical clinic on the riverbank of the Thames for anyone in need. When Crowe runs into Eliza Hollister, a former patient he treated after a traffic accident and for whom he has romantic feelings, he’s disturbed to see her verbally abused by Paul Dolan, whose father imports luxury goods. Crowe is even more upset to discover that Eliza has become engaged against her will to Dolan, in order to help her father, who’s in financial trouble. Crowe’s curiosity about the Dolans leads him to probe a fatal fire at a warehouse Eliza’s father owned, which was deemed accidental. What he learns leads him to dig deeper. Meanwhile, Scuff, Crowe’s assistant, who was rescued as a child by Monk and his wife from a life of scavenging the Thames at low tide, keeps the clinic running. The gripping plot is matched by moving portrayals of the clinic’s clientele. Readers drawn to Dickens’s searing portraits of the underprivileged will appreciate Perry’s homage to those characters. Agent: Donald Maass, Donald Maass Literary.
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