Shortly before Christmas, Niklas Heikkinen, a scientist who has been stationed at the North Pole for 15 years, finds he is out of a job for not submitting his thesis after all that time. On leaving he finds he has taken with him one of the many letters he has received while addressed to Santa Claus. On a whim, he decides to go where the letter was sent from and heads for London. Staying at a B&B, run by the sprightly Mrs Dollimore, who helps him put together a set of criteria to show if he could be Santa Claus and why he received so many letters. While seeing if it might be true, his path crosses that of Clare Sheldon, who helps her father run a reindeer sanctuary in Scotland and she is collecting an unwanted reindeer, but something any real Santa would need. As the co-incidences start piling up, they begin to wonder if the hypothesis may be true.

This is a curious book. It’s fairly light and undemanding, ideal for someone just looking for a read to pass the time, but there is little more than that. The plot is set out fairly neatly and it’s fun to watch how everything develops, despite it meandering on occasion, from Niklas’ behaviour and lack of realisation and understanding of the world he is passing through. The characters are a fun trio, each with their own outlook on the world and their interactions help to engage the readers in what is likely to happen next. However, several of the sections in Niklas’ past seem to have little reason to be there, and though Niklas is described as being strange when he is young, what that strangeness could be, is never fully fleshed out. The writing is excellent and helps to really set out what is going on and the thoughts and feelings of each character, but it didn’t help enough to stop me speeding through waiting for the next event to unfold.

It’s not a bad book by any stretch, but it’s not a stretching book, just something to enjoy reading for readings sake, especially at Christmas.