The Amethyst Cross: A Ghost Story for Christmas

by Mary Fitt

Genres: Short Stories, Horror, Christmas, Fiction

75 pages, Paperback

Published October 29, 2024

About the author

"Mary Fitt" was the pen-name used for her crime novels by Dr. Kathleen Freeman, who for several years was Lecturer in Greek at the University of Wales at Cardiff.

Reviews

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining, well-written, tense tale, told in a 19-th c. way (though it’s set in 1937 and was first published in 1957), meaning at a remove from the overall narrator who is a busy woman tasked with renting a vacation cottage for her aunt. The niece does relate her own chilling feelings about the cottage, but the scariest parts are told through a letter. The (second) ending arrives through a newspaper article that reminded me of a Sherlock Holmes story.

[Manon (mysterymanon) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfectly spooky with just a hint of murder. Actually got chills reading part of this which was fun

[John Gilbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

What's scarier, an overbearing aunt or a haunted cottage?

[Brette · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Anne Logan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like Podolo, The Amethyst Cross also excels at creating a spooky atmosphere filled with tension. It’s about a young woman, Margaret, who has been tasked with finding a country cottage for her overbearing Aunt Dorothea to vacation in, so she can enjoy the surrounding moors for walking. A very cheap cottage is available, well-equipped and in a nice location, but the innkeeper responsible for renting it has warned Margaret that it’s haunted, which is why it mostly stays empty. Apparently an older woman was murdered there, while her valuable jewels were stolen. Aunt Dorothea lasts only a few days and soon leaves, but writes a letter to Margaret explaining why she couldn’t stay there any longer. The descriptions of the cottage from Margaret and Dorothea’s points of view are the perfect haunted house set-up, and the eerie history of these beautiful gems are a striking end to the story. Like many tales from that era, the plot is also a warning about the dangers of greed and covetousness.

To read the rest of my reviews visit my website at ivereadthis.com

[Cynthia Egbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rounded my 3.5 rating up for this one as it is one of the best I have read thus far in Seth's Ghost Story for Christmas series. I mean, you cannot go wrong with a ghost story set in a cottage on the moors in the winter season. And this one delivers. There is always something delightful in having a scoffer get the socks scared off of them! One passage that particularly tickled me..."I was absorbed in the book I was reading - it was Gone With the Wind, I chose it because it was so long and had such a suitable title for my holiday, or so I thought - anyway, I found it most absorbing (you really should read it, you know. I think we ought all to try to keep abreast with modern literature. Of course I know you think nothing matters after about AD 400, but I think that's a very limited view. However, I am digressing)."

[Ron Kerrigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neat and well written short story penned by a niece and her aunt (in a letter) about the aunt's penchant for rural vacations, one of which is in a possibly haunted cottage. The text covers 65 pages, the rest taken up with Seth's scribblings and publisher information. (Note: the plot outline on the back of the book is fairly misleading.)

[David Abrams · Rating 4 out of 5]

A winter's night on the moors. A cottage for rent. A history of murder. A locked parlor door that unlocks on its own. Three mysterious visitors at midnight. A scream. A panicked flight across a winter's night on the moors.

Another satisfying ghost story from Biblioasis and Seth.

[Elle SeasonsofStories · Rating 3 out of 5]

A traditional ghost story for Christmas, this was originally published in a larger volume of ghost stories in 1954. Very short, told mostly through a letter. Spooky more than scary, I’d definitely pick up more from Mary Fitt!

[Lisa Kucharski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun to see another story in this series. It’s a little book with one short story - a ghost story to read at Christmas time. While Fitt was a mystery writer, she did a great job creating a ghost story with a criminal link to it.

[JA · Rating 5 out of 5]

No holidays on the moors any time soon.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A shockingly thrilling spooky read!

[Arjun Narayanan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The moors can be scary

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story and a beautifully designed book.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an interesting tradition! Fun story.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one, and now I want to read more by her.

[Drew Canole · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the stronger "haunted house" tales in Seth's Christmas Ghost collection. Told from the point of view of the niece, but the Aunt is the one who experiences the haunting - and she's quite the cantankerous character.