Core Book Data
Title: Gone By Christmas.
Author: J. Cronshaw.
Publication date: 28 November 2025.
Primary genres: Domestic Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Domestic Noir.
Audience: Adult readers of domestic-suspense and psychological-suspense fiction.
Setting: Lancaster, Morecambe Bay, the Christmas Market, and surrounding North Lancashire streets and suburbs, UK.
Primary POV: First-person limited (Sian Matthews).
Tense: Present.
ASIN and Identifiers
Amazon ASIN: B0G3B98VFD.
Publisher: Wyvern Books, Ltd.
Language: English.
Ebook format: Kindle (KU eligible).
Print format: Paperback.
Retail Copy / Blurb
Her daughter vanished after the Christmas market.
Her husband insists he knows nothing.
The evidence says otherwise.
Fifteen-year-old Courtney Matthews should have come home after her choir performance.
Instead, her mother finds a single blue mitten on the frost-covered doorstep—and a photograph that freezes her blood.
As police suspicion turns toward Courtney’s father, Sian starts receiving messages that point to something far more dangerous than teenage rebellion.
Someone knows exactly what happened that night.
Someone inside her family has been lying for years.
With Christmas Day approaching and every hour slipping away, Sian races through the winter streets of Lancaster to uncover the truth.
But each new clue pulls her deeper into a web of secrets, betrayal, and buried grudges that refuse to stay hidden.
Gone By Christmas delivers a tightly wound British domestic noir perfect for readers who enjoy fast, chilling novellas with emotional intensity and a shocking family mystery at the centre.
Comparative Authors and Titles
Comparable authors include Lisa Jewell, Shari Lapena, Daniel Hurst, Claire Douglas, Louise Candlish, and K.L. Slater.
Comparable titles include The Family Upstairs, The Couple Next Door, The Woman in the Dark, The Missing, and The Man She Married.
Readers can expect a tense British domestic thriller with a missing teenager, marital distrust, police scrutiny, and escalating psychological danger.
Tropes and Themes
Missing teenage daughter during a winter holiday setting.
Mother under suspicion while she searches for the truth.
Evidence appearing at the front door.
Christmas-market disappearance.
Marriage strained by secrets and financial pressure.
Anonymous messages and suspicious photographs.
Burner phone discovered in the husband’s pocket.
Neighbour reports of raised voices.
Police warnings not to interfere with the investigation.
Maternal guilt and fear driving the search.
Claustrophobic, small-city domestic noir.
Keyword Clusters
british domestic thriller set in lancaster.
christmas psychological thriller about a missing girl.
domestic noir novella christmas market disappearance.
mother searching for missing daughter suspense fiction.
psychological thriller with anonymous threats.
burner phone domestic thriller plot twist.
north of england domestic suspense 2025.
family secrets and marital mistrust christmas thriller.
kindle unlimited domestic noir novella.
fast paced british psychological suspense set in winter.
Back-of-Book Metadata Snippet
Domestic Thriller | Psychological Thriller | Domestic Noir.
Set in Lancaster, Morecambe Bay, and local winter streets.
First-person present tense from a mother whose daughter vanishes after the Christmas market.
Product Details
ASIN: B0G3B98VFD.
Publisher: Wyvern Books, Ltd.
Publication date: 28 November 2025.
Language: English.
Edition: Standalone British domestic-thriller novella (approx. 30,000 words).
Content Guidance
Includes themes of child endangerment, parental fear, and marital breakdown.
Depicts stalking, anonymous threats, and police investigation.
Contains references to abduction, missing minors, and psychological distress.
Suitable for adult readers of domestic and psychological-suspense fiction.
