AT MIDNIGHT COMES THE CRY

Upstate New York Episcopal priest Clare Fergusson and her husband, Russ Van Alstyne, observe the four Sundays of Advent by hunting for missing persons, seeking justice for a murder, and neutralizing an unusually well-planned example of domestic terrorism.

“Keep America’s Christmas white,” announces a banner unfurled at the height of the Greenwich Tractor Parade. Millers Kill alderman Ron Tucker tussles with Rick Smith, the white nationalist contractor responsible for the offensive message, but of course that doesn’t solve anything. Neither does the civil conversation Clare attempts with Rick’s wife, Meghan. Since Russ has been forced to resign from his job as Millers Kill police chief, he has no official standing in the conflict. Nor is he eager to join Officer Hadley Knox’s search for Kevin Flynn, her ex-colleague and secret lover, who vanished from his new job in the Syracuse PD more than a month ago. But Hadley talks him into joining her, and they learn from Assistant State Attorney Yíxīn Zháo that Kevin isn’t AWOL but undercover with Knox’s Noble Train, a local militia linking Rick Smith to some seriously bad guys. Soon after they cross paths with ranger Paul Terrance, who’s searching for his uncle, ranger Pierre Laduc, they get hard evidence that not every search for a missing person has a happy ending. Working separately in their very different ways, Clare and Russ cobble together whatever alliances they can to help them thwart a violent act of sabotage the Noble Train plans to unleash on a holiday crowd.

Both franchise heroes, far from their comfort zones, are outshined by teams that aim to stop a startling holiday surprise.