IT CAME UPON A MIDNIGHT SHEAR

Christmas cheer and murder don’t mix—or do they?

Yarn shop owner Libby Beckett has pulled off a near miracle by getting charismatic Vincenzo Marani to bring a few rare vicuñas from a New England zoo to be shorn in public at her shop. Vincenzo, who comes from a wealthy Italian family of textile makers, has made it his mission to protect the animals and their native Peruvian habitat. A skein of their yarn sells for $500, but touching it is heaven to knitters. Libby’s bliss is shattered by the arrival of her wealthy, aggravating ex-husband, Sterling Jefferson, who wants her to amend their divorce agreement. To top it off, both his haughty mother and flighty sister are also in town. So many people overhear the nasty argument between the ex-spouses that even though she’s helped the authorities with other murders, police chief Frank Reynolds still considers her a suspect when Sterling is found stabbed to death by the shears used on the vicuñas. In addition, somebody’s stolen some vicuña yarn, Libby’s two assistants at the shop are at daggers drawn, and the man she’s slowly rebuilding a relationship with is wildly jealous of Vincenzo—who turns out to be a longtime friend of Sterling's. An autopsy reveals several unusual drugs in Sterling’s system, a discovery that opens up a whole new line of investigation at his family pharmaceutical business. Whatever the story behind Sterling’s death, Libby needs to find the killer fast before she ends up in jail.

Red herrings abound in a twisty tale of love, hate, and revenge.