It's Christmastime in New York City, and Capt. Bill Donovan is eagerly awaiting the birth of his first child. Resting comfortably with his expectant wife, Marcy, Donovan is enjoying his well-deserved partial leave from the danger and mayhem of the big city. But more dangerous matters are afoot, and when a high-society Manhattanite is shot and killed while shopping for jewels at Sarkana with his fiancee, Donovan is drawn, quite unwillingly, into the most bizarre murder case of his career. Ordered to take over the case by the mayor, Donovan must run back and forth between the investigation and Marcy's bedside as she prepares to deliver the child that Donovan and she have been talking about for the past fifteen years. When a second shopper is murdered, the city is threatened with losing a good part of its most profitable season, as well as more than a few lives. And the list of suspects keeps growing, from the celebrity host of a well-known morning show to a blind beggar who stands on the corner wearing fur robes and Viking horns, and reciting his own poetry.

Genre: Mystery