Christmas mourning - Andrea Frazer

Christmas Mourning is the eighth instalment of Andrea Frazer's Falconer Files, a detective series chock-full of picture-postcard villages, dastardly deeds, and a delightful slice of humour.

The UK is experiencing its worst winter for years. Catastrophic news for DI Harry Falconer, as he has rashly promised to spend Christmas with his sergeant, Carmichael, and Carmichael's rambunctious family, in Castle Farthing-only to find himself snowed in and in and spending a lot longer at chez Carmichael than is desirable

Without power or telephones, and Castle Farthing cut off from the outside world until further notice, Christmas Day greets themwith a murder in St Cuthbert's Church, where the locum vicar has discovered, to his horror, one of Castle Farthing's residents nailed to a gigantic cross.

Falconer and Carmichael are left to dig their way out of Carmichael's cottage to investigate the terrible crime, with none of the technology and support normally available to them.

As if this is not enough to cope with, Carmichael has agreed to look after a huge Great Dane over the festivities, Kerry Carmichael is just about to give birth-and death is still stalking the snowed-in community, intent on claiming at least one more victim