There's no place like home for the homicide

For former FBI agent Gregor Demarkian, retirement has just come to an abrupt end. What started as a mysterious summons to a Christmas Eve feast at multimillionaire Robert Hannaford;s isolated country estate was now an invitation to a murder scene. Demerol and a blood-covered statue had ensured that.

Red ribbon, green wreaths, and spilled blue blood... christmas can be murder on the Philadelphia main line!

Add the late patriarch's penchant for making enemies, seven siblings with ample reasons for wanting Daddy dead, plus a murderer with a genius for mayhem, and you've got local police begging the Bureau's aging former ace to take up society sleuthing. But as the pieces fall into place, so do the bodies. And Gregor can hear the jingle bells toll - it's going to be a lethal Yule.