Just before Christmas, Sarah Deane and her fiance, Dr. Alex McKenzie, are summoned by Sarah's Aunt Julia to the Arizona resort where she has been vacationing since Thanksgiving. By the time Sarah arrives, a prankster has been at work for several days, annoying the guests and troubling the staff. Eventually a murder occurs. Is the murder connected to the pranks, or are there separate forces at work?

The cast of characters is cliched -- an aging Hollywood star and her boyfriend, a U.S. senator and his retinue, the senator's Southern belle wife and bratty son, the wealthy resort owner and his equally wealthy friends, and the resort employees. The sub-plot involving the rescue of horses bound for the dog food factory is better plotted and more entertaining than the murder mystery. There's really nothing here to distinguish this cozy from hundreds of others. It was okay for a light holiday read, but it didn't make me want to rush out and find any other books in this series. ( )