SANITY CLAUSE Steve Brewer

When a panicked elf finds Santa's dead body at a local mall, private investigator Bubba Mabry is in the hot seat. Merry tidings of greed, betrayal and Grinch-like deviousness soon follow as a grumbling Bubba hunts for a yuletide killer in a tale of murder, mistletoe and misery.

FINDING CHARITY Catherine Dain

Hollywood actress turned therapist Faith Cassidy discovers that the disappearance of a young prostitute named Charity and the murder of Faith's good friend Tori are connected in ominous ways. She's soon on the trail of a killer, grimly aware that her season promises to be anything but calm and bright.

DEEP AND CRISP Mat Coward

DCI Don Packham and DC Frank Mitchell investigate the murder of a man who belonged to an odd anti-Christmas club: dedicated to ignoring all the cheesy gifts, carols and yuletide silliness. But did their idea of fun include murder by tree-branch whacking? It's a case as clever and unpredictable as Packham himself.

THE THREE WISE WOMEN Linda Berry

Ogeechee Georgia police officer Trudy Roundtree is pulled into the investigation of a body found in the straw of a nativity scene parade float. Trudy finds an unlikely clue buried in the mystery of a decades-old unsolved murder--and with those keeping its secrets.