Christmas is just weeks away, but what Jacobia "Jake" Tiptree discovers at Faye Anne Carmody's house is far from festive: a dazed Faye Anne covered with blood. Her no-good husband, Merle—Eastport's butcher and least-liked citizen—is nowhere in sight. Nowhere, that is, until Jake finds his body—wrapped in his own butcher paper. It looks like an open-and-shut case, but Jake isn't convinced. Then another resident turns up dead, and Jake knows the trail doesn't begin—or end—with Merle. Jake had planned to spend the winter rehabilitating her old house, but now she'll have to work on nailing a killer before her beloved town gets even smaller.