THE KNIVES BEFORE CHRISTMAS

A surfeit of Santas seriously complicates a murder investigation.

Thomas Nast owns Wonderland, a shop specializing in all things Yuletide in Christmas, Florida. The shop is in a large Victorian house that hides many secrets, including the fact that Tom is a Santa-in-Training. Entering his shop one day, he finds the dead body of a man dressed as Santa, stabbed to death with one of six unique pocketknives he’d given as gifts to special friends. The police arrive, and their questions lead them to suspect Trixie McNamara, the store assistant who lives there and is almost a daughter to Tom. The dead man is Trixie’s estranged father, the much-disliked Hank Cobb, with whom she’d recently argued in a local bar. Tom can hardly tell the police that the house is home to both an elf, Peppermint, and a guard alligator. The police arrest Trixie, and since they’ll never believe she’s innocent and the house has magical properties, Tom resolves to investigate. He’s pained to consider everyone who received a special knife a suspect because all of them are or were his friends. On top of the murder, Tom must deal with a gangster who’s convinced that his $50,000 is stashed somewhere in the house. Despite a thorough search, all Tom discovers is a token from Alcoholics Anonymous. As he questions his suspects, Tom uncovers lots of secrets, deals with a rare snowfall, and survives an attempt on his life.

A magical mystery with a Christmas theme.