Classics for a reason

Kiran Manral, who has just released a murder mystery The Kitty Party Murder, suggests classics you can snuggle down with. The first is Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. "It was my introduction to spooky writing without it being spooky. There's so much of social commentary in it — the overworked clerk and the crippled child — and pathos," she says. Her next pick is JRR Tolkien's The Father Christmas Letters, which is a collection of letters written and illustrated by the author for his children on Christmas. "It was a heartwarming read about the spirit of Christmas," she adds.