Audio only
Length2h 48m
About this audiobook
“Delicious…I defy you to stop reading The Christmas Guest once you begin.” — New York Times Book Review
New York Times bestselling author Peter Swanson pens a spectacularly spine-chilling novella in which an American art student in London is invited to join a classmate for the holidays at Starvewood Hall, her family’s Cotswold manor house. But behind the holly and pine boughs, secrets are about to unravel, revealing this seemingly charming English village’s grim history.
Ashley Smith, an American art student in London for her junior year, was planning on spending Christmas alone, but a last-minute invitation from fellow student Emma Chapman brings her to Starvewood Hall, country residence of the Chapman family. The Cotswold manor house, festooned in pine boughs and crammed with guests for Christmas week, is a dream come true for Ashley. She is mesmerized by the cozy, firelit house, the large family, and the charming village of Clevemoor, but also by Adam Chapman, Emma’s aloof and handsome brother.
But Adam is being investigated by the local police over the recent brutal slaying of a girl from the village, and there is a mysterious stranger who haunts the woodland path between Starvewood Hall and the local pub. Ashley begins to wonder what kind of story she is actually inhabiting. Is she in a grand romance? A gothic tale? Or has she wandered into something far more sinister and terrifying than she’d ever imagined?
Over thirty years later the events of that horrific week are revisited, along with a diary from that time. What began in a small English village in 1989 reaches its ghostly conclusion in modern-day New York, many Christmas seasons later.
A cozy holiday read
Perfect for fans of winter mysteries
A delightful Christmas gift
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 3.5 (70.7K)
Includes Goodreads, Amazon, StoryGraph, LibraryThing
GenreGeneral Fiction, Fantasy
Length2 hrs 48 mins
Narrated byEsther Wane
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateOct 17, 2023
LanguageEnglish
More from Peter Swanson
Do You See What I See?Peter Swanson3h 34m3.5 (6.9K)$18 · $0.00
Nine LivesPeter Swanson7h 12m3.7 (66.2K)$24 · $0.00
Before She Knew HimPeter Swanson10h 15m3.9 (99.1K)$29 · $0.00
A Talent for MurderPeter Swanson8h 24m3.8 (53.4K)$26 · $0.00
Kill Your DarlingsPeter Swanson8h 39m3.3 (13.5K)$26 · $0.00
Every Vow You BreakPeter Swanson7h 39m3.7 (68.2K)$26 · $0.00
Her Every FearPeter Swanson10h 51m3.9 (44.3K)$29 · $0.00
The Kind Worth SavingPeter Swanson8h 37m3.9 (67.6K)$26 · $0.00
Eight Perfect MurdersPeter Swanson8h 4m3.8 (113.9K)$26 · $0.00
The Kind Worth KillingPeter Swanson10h 18m$29 · $0.00
The Girl with a Clock for a HeartPeter Swanson8h 39m3.5 (22.2K)$26 · $0.00
All the Beautiful LiesPeter Swanson9h 13m3.8 (55.1K)$29 · $0.00
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4.6 (4.6K)$29 · $0.00
Demon CopperheadBarbara Kingsolver21h 3m4.5 (949.4K)$46 · $0.00
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
Remarkably Bright CreaturesShelby Van Pelt11h 17m4.4 (1.7M)$29 · $0.00
Desperate MeasuresBrenda Jackson8h 59m4.7 (670)$28 · $0.00
This Side of Paradise - The Original 1920 Edition (Annotated)F. Scott Fitzgerald11h 30m4.6 (1.6K)$2 · $0.00
War LordBernard Cornwell13h 21m4.6 (33.1K)$33 · $0.00
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic NovelFrancis Scott Fitzgerald4h 45m4.6 (9.3K)$15 · $0.00
Something Like LoveBeverly Jenkins10h 21m4.6 (2.7K)$29 · $0.00
Black History CollectionFrederick Douglass, Harriet Ann Jacobs, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois27h 9m4.6 (2.6K)$15 · $0.00
The Old Man and the Sea (Annotated)Ernest Hemingway4h 27m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
White HotIlona Andrews13h 18m4.5 (136.9K)$5 · $0.00
The Ghost by the Billabong (The Matilda Saga, #5)Jackie French14h 58m4.6 (773)$33 · $0.00
Cast in BloodMichelle Sagara16h 35m4.6 (607)$33 · $0.00
The Captain Blood Trilogy (Annotated)Rafael Sabatini29h 20m4.6 (1K)$3 · $0.00
Ship of the Line (Annotated)Cecil Louis Troughton Smith11h 13m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
The George Orwell CollectionGeorge Orwell24h 46m4.5 (14.4K)$10 · $0.00
ShivajiRanjit Desai25h 13m4.6 (3.1K)$24 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust15h 38m4.5 (9.2K)$2 · $0.00
Driving ForceElle James4h 58m4.6 (407)$20 · $0.00
Before the Coffee Gets Cold: A Toshikazu Kawaguchi Book SetToshikazu Kawaguchi18h 55m4.5 (1.4K)$40 · $0.00
The Song of AchillesMadeline Miller11h 15m4.3 (2.3M) · 1122$29 · $0.00
Hunt of the DragonJuliette Cross9h 46m4.4 (736)$20
All This Twisted GloryTahereh Mafi11h 31m4.3 (54.6K)$29 · $0.00
Deadly GameChristine Feehan13h 20m4.3 (15.8K)$30
THE RETURN OF THE KINGJ.R.R. Tolkien21h 5m4.7 (1.2M)$7 · $0.00
WildfireIlona Andrews12h 45m4.5 (62.9K)$33 · $0.00
Lolth's WarriorR. A. Salvatore13h 20m4.6 (2.4K)$33 · $0.00
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du BoisHonoree Fanonne Jeffers29h 49m4.5 (58K)$8 · $0.00
Treasure Island (Adventure Classic with Illustrations)Robert Louis Stevenson8h 50m4.5 (11.2K)$1.99 · $0.00
Lola in the MirrorTrent Dalton13h 40m4.5 (43.9K)$33 · $0.00
Going PostalTerry Pratchett13h 36m4.5 (163.8K)$33 · $0.00
The Leo Tolstoy CollectionLeo Tolstoy9h 1m4.5 (4.9K)$10 · $0.00
Sword and ShadowMichelle Sagara16h 51m4.5 (2.2K)$40 · $0.00
The Neil Gaiman ReaderNeil Gaiman27h 3m4.5 (3.2K)$53 · $0.00
The HobbitJ. R. R. Tolkien10h 51m4.4 (4.9M)$12 · $0.00
Bad HabitAlana S. Portero5h 37m4.4 (52.3K)$24 · $0.00
Science Fiction & Fantasy CollectionH. P. Lovecraft16h 32m4.5 (2.7K)$2 · $0.00
The Last GodMichael McClung3h 43m4.5 (493)$5.10 · $0.00
The Undead PoolKim Harrison16h 13m4.4 (34.6K)$33 · $0.00
You may also like
Seasonal WorkLaura Lippman8h 57m3.8 (4K)$29 · $0.00
DismantledJennifer McMahon11h 52m3.8 (8.5K)$29 · $0.00
Hello GirlsBrittany Cavallaro, Emily Henry8h 7m3.8 (21.6K)$26 · $0.00
What's Mine Is YoursC. L. Jennison8h 13m4.2 (987)$18 · $0.00
Her Perfect SecretT. J. Brearton10h 39m4.2 (7.3K)$20 · $0.00
The Witness at the WeddingSimon Brett8h 5m3.9 (2.2K)$17
56 DaysCatherine Ryan Howard10h 40m3.7 (71.8K)$20
Cross Her HeartSarah Pinborough10h 24m3.8 (32.8K)$29 · $0.00
The Disappearance of Adèle BedeauBurnet, Graeme M8h 28m3.9 (6.5K)Free
The Lying RoomNicci French10h 39m3.7 (22.1K)$29 · $0.00
Altered StateElla Dominguez5h 34m4.1 (452)$17
The Couple at Number 9Claire Douglas12h 44m4.2 (44.7K)$33 · $0.00
Two Dead WivesAdele Parks13h 47m3.9 (19.4K)$33 · $0.00
Reader, I Murdered HimBetsy Cornwell8h 20m3.5 (2.7K)$20
The ExAlafair Burke7h 44m3.7 (32K)$26 · $0.00
Local Woman MissingMary Kubica11h 41m4.1 (930.4K)$29 · $0.00
Inspector Furnival - Complete Mystery SeriesAnnie Haynes22h 48m3.9 (63)$2 · $0.00
Mr. Marx’s SecretE. Phillips Oppenheim8h 48m3.9 (51)$1.20 · $0.00
All She WantsKelli Hawkins8h 16m3.8 (972)$26 · $0.00
The Witness on the Roof (Annotated)Annie Haynes9h 15m3.8 (207)$3 · $0.00