Bestselling authors Rita MaeBrown and her feline partner,Sneaky Pie Brown, are back forthe holidays in a mysteryfeaturing Mary Minor “Harry”Haristeen, the sleuthing cats Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, andcorgi Tee Tucker. Can they savethe season from a killjoy who’sdecided to gift the festive littletown…with murder?As Harry well knows, there’s hardly a place on earth cozierthan Crozet, Virginia, atChristmastime. The snowflakesdrifting lazily down, the softglow of the winter light, thesound of old carols in the streets…even cats Mrs. Murphyand Pewter get into the spiritbatting ornaments and climbingthe holiday tree. In fact, it’s thisyear’s tree that Harry and herhusband, Fair, have gone to fetch when they find the onethey’ve chosen grimly decoratedwith a dead body.The tree farm is run by TheBrothers of Love, asemimonastic organization that tends to AIDS patients. Thebrothers live in a monasteryatop the scenic Blue RidgeMountains. Harry is surprised tofind an old high-school friendassociated with The Brothers of Love. Christopher Hewitt wasn’ta bad man, but good worksweren’t exactly one of hispriorities. But then, if evenScrooge could turn over a newleaf, certainly Chris could. And after the scandal that all butdestroyed his life, there wereprobably few in Crozet whoneeded the gift of a secondchance more.Harry knows she shouldn’t take it personally, but it was her treethat someone left the corpseunder. Now, as the seasongrows merrier, a murderer isgrowing bolder. One by one,prominent men of Crozet are being crossed off Christmasshopping lists and added to themorgue. And if Harry and herfour-legged helpers aren’t verygood—and very careful—thisChristmas may be her last.