A winter wonderland in the Hamptons

Touching down at the airport in New York last Christmas, I felt butterflies in my stomach. I spend most Christmases at my house in the Hamptons, on Long Island to the east of the city, but this year felt more magical as there was heavy snow. It was as though we were entering a winter wonderland.

When I arrive at the house, I like to create a comforting atmosphere with log fires burning, but it’s the tree that really sets the scene.

I have always had a living Christmas tree and one of the first trees I had, which

I planted in the garden over 20 years ago, is now over 30 feet high.

Decorations are so special to me, as when my son Lorcan was born in Florida in 2003 I discovered an ‘all year round’ Christmas shop selling elaborate decorations. So now they remind me of his birth, and though every Christmas is memorable, it’s even more special now I can share Christmas Day with Lorcan.

In the Hamptons we often have 12 to 14 friends joining us around a vast round table and my roast potatoes are legendary – as is my overestimating the amount of brandy required on the Christmas pudding!

My advice is, go easy on the champagne before lunch. Carrying a 15lb turkey, a little inebriated, is a recipe for disaster.

My table overlooks the bay and last year the view was even more breathtaking with deer grazing in the garden – despite the snow!

✿ Lynda La Plante’s murder mile, published by Zaffre, is out now

‘Christmas decorations remind me of the birth of my son’