Anne Perry's Merry Mysteries: Two Victorian Holiday Novels - 11-12] (Ballantine Books trade paperback edition.)

CHRISTMAS COMES TWICE THIS YEAR WITH A PAIR OF DELICIOUS VICTORIAN MYSTERIES SET ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ATLANTIC.

A Christmas Hope ';Very much recommended . . . a wonderful story.'Historical Novel Review Claudine Burroughs dreads the holiday season.

She feels she has nothing in common with her circle of wealthy, status-minded friends, and the only time she's remotely happy is when she is volunteering at a women's clinic, a job her husband strongly disapproves of.

When Claudine meets a charming poet at a Yuletide gala, her spirits are finally lifteduntil he is accused of killing a fellow guest.

Believing in his innocence, Claudine vows to do her utmost to help.

But it seems that hypocritical London society would rather send an innocent man to the gallows than expose the shocking truth about one of their own.

A New York Christmas ';A perfect present for [Anne Perry's] readers.'RT Book Reviews Jemima Pitt, the daughter of Thomas Pitt, head of Britain's Special Branch, is crossing the Atlantic for the first time.

Her companion, Delphinia Cardew, is to marry in a grand Manhattan affair that will join together two fabulously wealthy families.

But a shadow darkens the occasion: Missing from the festivities is Delphinia's disgraced motherand the groom's charismatic brother has asked Jemima to help him find her and forestall the scandal that will surely follow if the prodigal parent turns up at the wedding.

From Hell's Kitchen to Fifth Avenue, from the LowerEast Side to Central Park, Jemima trudges through snowy streets, asking questions but getting few answersand never suspecting that she is walking into mortal danger.From the Trade Paperback edition.