A Family Christmas Turns to Murder

Frances Hazelton, the former Countess of Harleigh, and her husband, George, are ready for a lively London Christmas when George's sister Fiona and Fiona's husband persuade the family to gather at their Norfolk estate instead.

The children hope for snow, and Frances pictures bright fires, country walks, and a peaceful holiday.

Pounding rain and high winds strike in place of a pretty snowfall, and after the storm Frances, Fiona, and the children find their neighbor, Joshua Penhollow, dead in a nearby field under suspicious circumstances.

The local doctor was widely dismissed as a quack, and even his stepdaughter held a grudge against him.

With the men away clearing a blocked road, Frances and Fiona take up the inquiry while trying to restrain the youngsters' excitement over a real murder in a village full of vivid characters and more than a few suspects.

Any prospect of a quiet Christmas is fading, and the two women still have to stop a killer as cold as the season.