100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฟ

Auckland Bookstore open Sunday 8:30am-5:00pm ๐Ÿ“š

The Case of the Christmas Card

A festive murder mystery novella featuring Ali Dawson
Brief Description
The Case of the Christmas Card is a festive murder mystery novella featuring Ali Dawson. No-one is more surprised than time-travelling detective Ali Dawson when Charles Dickens suddenly turns up on her doorstep a few days before Christmas. The Great Writer is as baffled as she... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$3799
Pre-order
Releases 6th October 2026 (Approx. Date) Pre-order  "The Case of the Christmas Card" now to secure your copy from our first shipment

Found a better price? Request a price match

A festive murder mystery novella featuring Ali Dawson

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

The Case of the Christmas Card is a festive murder mystery novella featuring Ali Dawson.

No-one is more surprised than time-travelling detective Ali Dawson when Charles Dickens suddenly turns up on her doorstep a few days before Christmas. The Great Writer is as baffled as she is as to how he got there. Ali takes him in, despite being preoccupied with a new cold case around the murdered artist Sylvester Strong.

Dickens is a rather demanding house guest. However, as a detective, he shows distinct promise and together they embark on finding the truth behind the appearance of new paintings by the deceased artist. On top of that, Nell, the daughter of Ali's best friend Meg, has vanished without a trace.

As the whole of London is in full festive swing and preparing for the most special day of the year, Ali and Dickens are exploring the town, desperate to solve not just one but two crime cases. Will they succeed before Christmas Day arrives and more importantly, will Charles find a way back home?

Praise for the Ali Dawson Mysteries

'Warm and engaging characters and a wildly brilliant story wittily told' Ann Cleeves

'Ali Dawson is a delight - a detective you'll want to spend more time with' JP Delaney

'Elly Griffiths has done it again. Warm, witty and outrageously believable. I loved it' Sarah Hilary

'Here's a paradox: a thriller that is full of zest and joy' Nicci French

'Ali Dawson could be the most fun time-travelling detective since Dirk Gently' Chris Brookmyre

Series: The Ali Dawson Mysteries

View all
  • The Case of the Christmas Card
    Pre-order
    The Case of the Christmas Card
    The Case of the Christmas Card is a festive murder mystery novella featuring Ali Dawson. No-one is more surprised than time-travelling detective Ali Dawson when Charles Dickens suddenly turns up on her doorstep a few days before Christmas. The Great Writer is as baffled as she is as to how he got there. Ali takes him in, despite being preoccupied...
    Paperback
    $3799
    Pre-order
    Out 6 Oct 2026

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781529449587

Publisher: Quercus Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 08 October 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Quercus Publishing

Illustration: N/A

Contributors:

  • Read by Julie Maisey

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 135.0mm

Height: 216.0mm

Weight: 0g

Pages: 176

About the Author

Elly Griffiths is a multi-award-winning author and a No. 1 bestseller. She has written twenty-seven crime novels for adults; four for children, and a volume of short stories. Her books for adults include the Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries, the Brighton Mysteries and the Detective Harbinder Kaur series, as well as The Frozen People, the first book in the Ali Dawson Mysteries.

Elly's many accolades include the CWA Dagger in the Library, the Edgar Award, the Fingerprint Award for Crime Novel of the Year and the Theakston Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution Award, as well as being shortlisted multiple times for the Theakston Crime Novel of the Year Award.

Elly has two grown-up children and lives near Brighton with her archaeologist husband and their cat, Pip.

Also by Elly Griffiths

View all
  • The Crossing Places
    Start right here! Discover the Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries and become obsessed with one of the most popular crime series in Britain. 'Galloway now seems as real as Marple and Morse' The Times 'I've never before read a crime novel in which archaeology and detection blend as successfully as in The Crossing Places' Shots Dr Ruth Galloway is called in...
    Paperback
    $2600
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Frozen People
    A brand new series about a police officer with an extraordinary gift, the ability to travel in time. From No. 1 bestselling author of the Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries - sparks fly and love ignites when past and present meet. SOME MURDERS CAN'T BE SOLVED IN JUST ONE LIFETIME. Ali Dawson is a police officer working on crimes so old,...
    Paperback
    $3400
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Marple: Twelve New Stories
    Marple: Twelve New Stories is a tantalising collection of short stories that reintroduces the legendary detective Jane Marple. This anthology, crafted by twelve bestselling and acclaimed authors, breathes new life into one of Agatha Christie's most beloved characters. Each author brings their unique voice and perspective to Miss Marple, whilst masterfully preserving the hallmarks of a traditional mystery. The tales...
    Paperback
    $3100
    Elsewhere:
    $3500
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Janus Stone
    A gruesome discovery at an old children's home lays bare terrible secrets from Norwich's past in the second gripping mystery for Dr Ruth Galloway. The setting is enticingly atmospheric . . . a really intelligent murder story' Independent Dr Ruth Galloway's forensic skills are called upon when builders, demolishing an old house in Norwich, uncover the bones of a childโ€”minus...
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Night Hawks
    'SET IN DIVINE NORTH NORFOLK. INTENSELY ATMOSPHERIC AND GREAT' โ€“ India Knight Dr Ruth Galloway returns to the moody and beautiful landscape of North Norfolk to confront another killer. A devastating new case for our favourite forensic archaeologist in this acclaimed and bestselling crime series. The Night Hawks, a group of metal detectorists, are searching for buried treasure when they...
    Paperback
    $2600
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Dark Angel
    The Sunday Times Bestseller 'My favourite current crime series' Val McDermid Dr Ruth Galloway is flattered when she receives a letter from Italian archaeologist Dr Angelo Morelli, asking for her help. He's discovered a group of bones in a tiny hilltop village near Rome but doesn't know what to make of them. It's years since Ruth has had a holiday,...
    Paperback
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • A Room Full of Bones
    WINNER OF THE 2016 CWA DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY. Halloween night, and the dead are closer than ever for Dr Ruth Galloway. She is used to long-dead bodies, but a fresh corpse in the middle of a museum is a new challenge. The fourth beguiling Dr Ruth Galloway mystery. 'A wonderfully rich mix of ancient and contemporary' Guardian It is...
    Paperback
    $2600
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Marple: Twelve New Stories
    A brand new collection of short stories featuring the Queen of Crimeโ€™s legendary detective Jane Marple, penned by twelve remarkable bestselling and acclaimed authors. This collection of twelve original short stories, all featuring Jane Marple, will introduce the character to a whole new generation. Each author reimagines Agatha Christieโ€™s Marple through their own unique perspective while staying true to the...
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2500
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Locked Room
    THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER Forensic archaeologist Dr Ruth Galloway and DCI Harry Nelson are on the hunt for a murderer when Covid rears its ugly head. But can they find the killer despite lockdown? 'GALLOWAY NOW SEEMS AS REAL AS MARPLE AND MORSE' The Times 'INTENSELY ATMOSPHERIC AND GREAT' India Knight Forensic archaeologist Dr Ruth is in London...
    Paperback
    $2600
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Ghost Fields
    WINNER OF THE 2016 CWA DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY. A bullet-ridden body is unearthed from a buried WW2 plane, but the body isn't from WW2. Dr Ruth Galloway must discover who the victim was, and who put him there, in this atmospheric mystery for fans of Val McDermid and Ann Cleeves. 'An almost gothic plot, involving family feuds and a...
    Paperback
    $2500
    Elsewhere:
    $2699
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The House at Sea's End
    WINNER OF THE 2016 CWA DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY. The shadow of the Second World War looms dark over the third chilling mystery for Dr Ruth Galloway. Some buried secrets shouldn't be uncovered. 'A melancholy setting, an eerie discovery, a lone investigator... perfect for the long winter evening' Financial Times Dr Ruth Galloway is called in by a team of...
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Stone Circle
    'My favourite series' Val McDermid DCI Nelson has been receiving threatening letters telling him to 'go to the stone circle and rescue the innocent who is buried there'. He is shaken, not only because children are very much on his mind, with Michelle's baby due to be born, but because although the letters are anonymous, they are somehow familiar. They...
    Paperback
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday

More from Crime & Thriller

View all
  • New Release
    Every Lake
    Scary stories are fun... until your life becomes one. When Alice was fifteen, her father killed Mia Heywood in their lakefront cottage before vanishing into the trees. At least that's what the locals think happened. Over a decade later, Alice has lost her job as a journalist, she's going through an expensive divorce and she desperately needs to sell the...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    It Could Have Been Her
    PREPARE TO BE HOOKED: The no. 1ย Sunday Timesย and MULTI-million-copy bestselling author is back with a brand-new spine tingling thriller. It was the night she almost died. Jane Trevally, newly divorced and feeling a little lost, agrees to accompany a man she doesn't know to his house in the darkest corner of Hampstead Heath. She's offered a drink, goes in, and...
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    26 Beauties
    The twenty-sixth thrilling novel in the globally bestselling Women's Murder Club series. Beautiful young women are disappearing by the dozen. A celebration is cut short when a concerned father crashes Detective Inspector Lindsay Boxer's party. His daughter is missing - and she's not the only one. DI Lindsay Boxer has been tracking a chilling pattern: a Jane Doe washed ashore,...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    The Secrets We Hide
    The stunning new North Falls thriller by the bestselling author ofย We Are All Guilty Here 'Quite simply, Karin Slaughter is the best of us' Dervla McTiernan Welcome back to North Falls -- a small town with big secrets. The house at 1601 Iris Drive looks like any other in the quiet, residential street. But rumours are rife about the Vickery...
    Paperback
    $3099
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    The Parkwood Murders
    They came for an escape, but can they escape a killer? Detective Nicola Bridge returns in another gripping and immersive mystery For its loyal guests, Parkwood Holiday Village in west Dorset is a haven- woodland walks, a tranquil lake, service around the clock. Until, just after midsummer, a body is found floating in the swimming pool. Detective Nicola Bridge, exhausted...
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Hope Rises
    'BALDACCI IS STILL PEERLESS' - THE SUNDAY TIMES REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED COLD . . . Walter Nash, working under the alias of Dillon Hope, is on the road to revenge after becoming an informant for the FBI against a global criminal operation headed up by Victoria Steers. Steers has ripped everything Nash held dear away from him....
    Paperback
    $3099
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    Slash
    A year after a brutal shootout left her lover dead, ex-police sergeant Honey Chalmers is a hot mess, drinking too much and eating too little, working casual gigs for a shady firm of private investigators โ€” while holding conversations with a ghost. A desperate father asks her to investigate his missing son โ€” a double-murder suspect last seen during the...
    Paperback
    $3200
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    A River Red With Blood
    The players call it the Game, and its aim is simple: to abduct and kill a stranger without getting caught. They're very good at it. They've been playing it for a long time. And they can keep playing as long as everyone sticks to the rules: No Killing Close to Home and No Killing Outside the Game. But those rules...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Shadow Step
    The new Detective Miller thriller from bestselling author Mark Billingham, full of tension, wit and incredible twists. The Shadow Step: One taken simultaneously by a pair of dancers facing the same direction, one of them behind and slightly shifted leftwards ('in the shadow') Typically, such a step perfectly demonstrates synchronized elegance. It showcases a couple in near telepathic harmony with...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    Backorder
    Ships mid August
  • Blue Lightning
    New Release
    Blue Lightning
    Blue Lightning The fourth Shetland novel A remote island on lockdown. A killer on the loose . . . Shetland detective Jimmy Perez knows it will be a difficult homecoming when he returns to Fair Isle to introduce his fiancรฉe to his parents. With the autumn storms raging, the island is cut off from the rest of the world. Then...
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Red Bones
    New Release
    Red Bones
    Red Bones is the third Shetland novel featuring detective Jimmy Perez. Sometimes the dead won't stay buried... When a young archaeologist uncovers a set of human remains, the island settlers are intrigued. Is it an ancient findโ€”or a more contemporary mystery? Then an elderly woman is shot in what appears to be a tragic accident in the middle of the...
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Last to Drown
    New Release
    The Last to Drown
    Praise for Noelle W. Ihli: 'Hands down one of my favourite reads of the year' - FREIDA MCFADDEN 'A true classic in the genre' - LISA JEWELL 'A propulsive story that haunts and mesmerizes' - KARIN SLAUGHTER FIVE DAYS. TWENTY STRANGERS. NO PHONE SIGNAL. The rafting trip was supposed to be the adventure of a lifetime. But now that Kaia's...
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    In Stock
    Ships Monday

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.