Despite her dear friend Jane Austen's warning against teaching, Arabella Dempsey accepts a position at a girls' school in Bath, just before Christmas. She hardly imagines coming face-to-face with French aristocrats and international spi­es.

Reginald “Turnip” Fitzhugh-often mistaken for the elusive spy known as the Pink Carnation-has blundered into danger before. When Turnip and Arabella find their Christmas pudding yielding a cryptic message, they are launched on a Yuletide adventure. Will they find poinsettias-or peril?

Review

"Set between the fourth and fifth novels in her charming Pink Carnation series, Willig offers up a holiday tale centered around Turnip Fitzhugh, the bumbling but well-meaning nobleman who is often mistaken for the English spy known as the Pink Carnation. Turnip isn’t looking for trouble when he visits his younger sister at her boarding school, but when he literally runs into Arabella Dempsey, a pretty young teacher, the two find themselves drawn into international intrigue via an unlikely source: a message written in French on the wrapping of a Christmas pudding. Turnip’s own limited experiences with espionage lead him to want to check it out, and Arabella agrees to go along. What seems like a frivolous endeavor soon proves to be something else entirely when Turnip learns of a missing list of English spies in France and Arabella is attacked after a school play. Forget all the Austen updates and clones—Willig is writing the best Regency-era fiction today. This delectable, exciting holiday tale will appeal to longtime fans of the series and newcomers alike. " Booklist

Author Biography

Lauren Willig is a law student and Ph.D. candidate in history at Harvard University. She is the author of The Secret History of the Pink Carnation.