Carols by candlelight. Snow on the harbour. And a celebrity chef who won't live to see Christmas morning.

When Porthmellin's most famous son comes home for the first time in thirty years, Clementine Hart is asked to cater the homecoming of the decade. Then, in front of the whole village, Lucas Tremaine raises a toast, drinks, and drops dead.

The doctor says his heart. Clem can see it doesn't add up: two hundred people drank the same mulled wine, and only one of them fell. When the snow closes the roads, she and DS Tom Pengelly have until the thaw to find a killer trapped inside the village with them.

A complete, satisfying Christmas murder with no cliffhanger.