Novella that opens: "Marley was dead, to begin with” (1,9,5)

I believe the answer is:

a christmas carol

(Other definitions for a christmas carol that I've seen before include "novel" , "haunting story for 8 [EBENEZER SCROOGE]" , "Scrooge's tale" , "Seasonal song" , "Classic book" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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