Mary Higgins Clark, Carol Higgins Clark

Read by Carol Higgins Clark

In the fifth Christmas mystery by the real-life mother-daughter team (Mary and Carol), the fictional mother-daughter team (Nora and Regan) is on the way to Branscombe, New Hampshire, for an old-fashioned, small-town Christmas festival. With the carefully orchestrated festival only days away, the workers at Conklin’s market, which is set to cater the affair, are disgruntled by unfair treatment from Old Man Conklin’s newest wife, especially when she denies them their expected bonuses. But when four of the workers realize that they hold a winning lottery ticket worth $160 million, they gladly snub Conklin and his wife, leaving them shorthanded with the festivities approaching. The group is concerned, though, when a fifth worker, Duncan, who has been part of their lottery-buying co-op for years but had opted out this time, cannot be found, as they planned to share the winnings with him anyway. Duncan had been cutting back on “useless” expenses, based on the dubious advice of scam-artist “investors,” and now he finds himself holding secrets that put him in serious danger. The amiable cast of characters—from the townsfolk to the two bumbling crooks to Regan and Nora’s group of friends—gives this pleasant holiday diversion a light charm that would be welcome any time of the year.