Introducing a sleuth that"mothers everywhere will identify with"—first in the long-running series from the New York Times bestselling author(Publishers Weekly).

As if baking holiday cookies, knitting a sweater for her husband's gift, and making her daughter's angel costume for the church pageant weren't enough things for Lucy Stone's busy Christmas schedule, she's also working nights at the famous mail-order company Country Cousins. But when she discovers Sam Miller, its very wealthy founder, dead in his car from an apparent suicide, the sleuth in her knows something just doesn't smell right.
Taking time out from her hectic holiday life to find out what really happened, Lucy's investigation leads to a backlog of secrets as long as Santa's Christmas Eve route. She is convinced that someone murdered Sam Miller. But who and why? With each harrowing twist she uncovers in this bizarre case, another shocking revelation is exposed. Now, as Christmas draws near and Lucy gets dangerously closer to the truth, she's about to receive a present from Santa she didn't ask for—a killer who won't be satisfied until everyone on his shopping list is dead, including Lucy herself . . .

Praise for the Lucy Stone Mystery series

"A solid mystery."—San Francisco Chronicle
"A surprising and intelligently constructed plot."—Cape Cod Times
"Lucy Stone is an endearing sleuth."—Dorothy Cannell

"Leslie Meier has created a town I'd like to live in and a sleuth I'd love to meet."—Jill Churchill