The Secret Christmas Library, by Jenny Colgan

September 26, 2025 Lark_Bookwyrm Book Reviews 6 ★★★★½

The Secret Christmas Library by Jenny Colgan
Published by William Morrow on 10/14/2025
Genres: Fiction, Holiday, Contemporary Romance
Pages: 320
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher
Purchase: Amazon | Bookshop | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Audible
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four-half-stars

A new holiday story set in the Scottish Highlands to warm booklovers’ hearts by Jenny Colgan, New York Times bestselling author of Midnight at the Christmas Bookshop.

Mirren Sutherland stumbled into a career as an antiquarian book hunter after finding a priceless antique book in her great aunt’s attic. Now, as Christmas approaches, she’s been hired by Jamie McKinnon, the surprisingly young and handsome laird of a Highland clan whose ancestral holdings include a vast crumbling castle. Family lore suggests that the McKinnon family’s collection includes a rare book so valuable that it could save the entire estate—if they only knew where it was. Jamie needs Mirren to help him track down this treasure, which he believes is hidden in his own home.

But on the train to the Highlands, Mirren runs into rival book hunter Theo Palliser, and instantly knows that it’s not a chance meeting. She’s all too familiar with Theo’s good looks and smooth talk, and his uncanny ability to appear whenever there’s a treasure that needs locating.

Almost as soon as Mirren and Theo arrive at the castle, a deep snow blankets the Highlands, cutting off the outside world. Stuck inside, the three of them plot their search as the wind whistles outside. Mirren knows that Jamie’s grandfather, the castle’s most recent laird, had been a book collector, a hoarder, and a great lover of treasure hunts. Now they must unpuzzle his clues, discovering the secrets of the house—forming and breaking alliances in a race against time.

A treat for booklovers and treasure hunters alike, The Secret Christmas Library serves up a delicious mystery with a hint of romance, and plenty of holiday spirit!

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher.

This book contains mature content and may not be suitable for younger readers.

A ramshackle old castle, a hidden book, a treasure hunt, and a touch of romance

A year ago, Mirren found a rare book—her one claim to fame. Well, to be fair, Mirren and Theo found a rare book, but Mirren got there first. And Theo, with whom she had gotten close, immediately ghosted her. Now Mirren is facing a boring, lonely holiday season. Until Jamie shows up, and hires her to go on a book hunt. In his Scottish castle. At Christmas.

It doesn’t take Mirren long to agree. Imagine her surprise and dismay when she discovers that Theo has also been invited. And that the aforementioned castle is now ramshackle, dilapidated, and badly in need of upkeep. Jamie has inherited the lairdship and the estate, but not the wherewithal to make the necessary repairs, let alone hire the staff needed to care for the castle. The only staff is the housekeeper, Bonnie, who grew up with Jamie on the estate.

And the books! Jamie’s grandfather, the previous laird, was a book collector. No, make that a book hoarder. The castle is chock full of dusty books, crammed onto shelves and even stacked in piles. And somewhere, in all of that, is the one precious book that might save the castle. But they’re going to have to follow his eccentric grandfather’s clues to have any chance of finding it.

All of that is merely the setup, covered in the first few chapters. The rest of the book revolves around the actual search for the book, and the relationships, dreams, and desires of the characters searching for it. The Secret Christmas Library is, as author Jenny Colgan admits, something of a fairy tale, and a charming one at that. The cryptic clues; the once-grand castle and its mysterious, dusty rooms; the snowstorm that isolates them, and the slim cast of characters (five, including Jamie’s sister Esme) are reminiscent of both a gothic romance and a children’s adventure story, although the characters (and their language) are decidedly adult.

It’s not all a fairy tale by any means. Jamie’s predicament, and his crumbling home, are all too real. Since the 1920s, high taxes and changing fortunes have forced many once-wealthy British families to sell off their more valuable items, then open their houses to the public, donate them to the National Trust, or sell them. Jamie’s sense of obligation to what is left of the house and estate, and what that means for him, becomes a fundamental issue in the novel.

Class differences are another theme, though one without much bite. Jamie, Esme, and Theo all had an upper-class upbringing, while Mirren and Bonnie are working class from their roots. As the POV character, Mirren’s unfamiliarity with upper-class ways of thinking and doing things sometimes leaves her feeling awkward, intimidated, or left out. Then there’s the added awkwardness of her prior relationship with Theo and the current tensions between them. And her growing attraction to Jamie. With all of that swirling around, Mirren is in rather a muddle, and it takes her a while to sort her feelings out… all whilst trying to solve the clues and find the precious book. In fact, Mirren turns out to be rather good at the clues; she has a gift for looking past the obvious to the possibilities beyond.

Mirren, Jamie, Theo, Esme, and Bonnie are all interesting and individual characters, and the shifting relationships between them add humor, tension, and complexity to the external challenges of the plot. This being a Jenny Colgan novel, of course everything does work out in the end—if not in the way any of them expected it to. (Satisfactorily, but not in the way I expected it to, either!)

At its heart, The Secret Christmas Library is indeed a fairy tale, a delightful adventure, and a great deal of fun. If you’re looking for a heartwarming, atmospheric novel to read this winter, I happily recommend it.

Challenges: COYER 2025: Out to Lunch; NetGalley & Edelweiss Challenge 2025