Dead: one ordinary man. Just the latest in a string of losers in the wrong place at the worst time. Not the kind of case to yank New Orleans homicide detective Guy Gautreaux back from his leave of absence in Toussaint, Louisiana.

There's someone in Toussaint Guy will do anything to protect. Jilly Gable is desperate to find the love of the family who abandoned her as a child. And when the wife of a powerful New Orleans antiques dealer

'Tis the season to be wary...

Christmas is coming and all is far from calm in Pointe Judah, Louisiana. Newcomer Christian DeAngelo--Angel to his friends--is at his wit's end trying to manage Sonny, the hotheaded nineteen-year-old everyone believes is his nephew. In fact, Sonny is the orphaned son of a notorious mob boss, a protected witness...and Angel's responsibility.

Angel has been commiserating with Eileen Moggeridge, whose