I have recently come to enjoy the mystery genre, and since I already enjoyed Klavan’s Another Kingdom series, I decided to read When Winter Comes as well. This book is neither like Another Kingdom nor Agatha Christie. Klavan is an intriguing writer; no two books (or series) of his I have read have been alike. And yet, I can see the heavy influence of classic writers in all of his writing. This one is no different. It is as though their presence was felt as he wrote his story. But this is also a modern mystery. A detective, somewhat cozy mystery, but rooted in reality. Klavan incorporates enough motifs and themes to make the book familiar and enough wordplay and intrigue to make you wonder until the very end.

Perhaps it is the style of the times, but this is the next in a series of books I’ve read recently that are told out of time. What I mean is that the narrative is told in three different times or places. One is in the past, and two are in the present, though in different places and told in different ways. This pulled me in as a reader and kept me puzzling the mystery until the pieces suddenly fell into place. It was as though time was weaving a narrative that seemed disconnected at first until you saw that, though they were their own unique stories, they crafted a larger whole, like a melody and harmony in a musical composition. I suppose this is the best way to talk about the dead. But the best part is that Klavan wrote this story in such as way to make the mystery not the mystery you think it is. So, while I had figured out part of the ending partway through the book, I didn’t get it until the very end.

And there at the end is where I most keenly saw the influence of classic writers. Klavan is telling a great story. He is crafting a mystery. But he is also telling something more. He is getting into the motives of people, into values, into what is good and true and what is murky. Some stories are beautiful even in their grittiness. What’s more, as he says in the book, “We reveal ourselves in the stories we tell.” Stories, like paintings, are more than words on paper. They relay the deeper meanings and truths that we are afraid of or unsure how to speak. This isn’t a story about good people, but it is a story that gets at a truth in many people. What are the fundamental things we struggle with? Long for? What makes or keeps us human? But even in all this deeper messaging, this book was different than the previous books I read by Klavan. Where Lively was allegorical in Another Kingdom, Winter is a real, tangible man in this book. Yes, he’s constructed for the narrative, Klavan conveys elemental truths through him, but he is still real, making him familiar, relatable in a way fantasy often lacks. And that made the mystery all that more enjoyable.

I am eagerly looking forward to the next two books in the series. If they are anything like this one, this will be a series I read over again. And if you like mystery, you will enjoy this one. The story is laid out. Nothing makes sense, and everything does. And as you read, the past and present will pull itself and you into solving this mystery When Christmas Comes.

Blessings to you and yours,

~Madelyn Rose Craig