Christmas is just weeks away, but what Jacobia "Jake" Tiptree discovers at Faye Anne Carmody's house is far from festive: a dazed Faye Anne covered with blood. Her no-good husband, Merle — Eastport's butcher and least-liked citizen — is nowhere in sight. Nowhere, that is, until Jake finds his body — wrapped in his own butcher paper. It looks like an open-and-shut case, but Jake isn't convinced. Then another resident turns up dead, and Jake knows the trail doesn't begin — or end — with Merle. Jake had planned to spend the winter rehabilitating her old house, but now she'll have to work on nailing a killer before her beloved town gets even smaller.