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Just as the holiday season begins, so does the drama, when China Bayles' husband's ex-wife Sally appears begging for help and a place to stay. 'Tis the season of giving, so China opens her home to Sally. But when troubling phone calls start, China knows she'll need to dig up the truth before Christmas turns deadly.

China, owner of Thyme and Seasons Herbs, relishes her membership on the planning committee for the Picklefest in Pecan Springs, Texas. Meanwhile, her husband Mike McQuaid is hanging out a shingle on his own new detective agency. Suddenly, their quiet life is interrupted when the Pickle Queen disappears just days before the festival. China and mike begin an exciting search for clues to this chilling mystery.

Deep in Texas hill country, ex-lawyer China thinks life is hectic enough already, and then her teenaged son unearths human remains while digging in a nearby cave. The bones indicate foul play--and are much too recent to be an archeological find. Despite the unexpected turn of events, China keeps her cool and attends the opening of the new community theater. But the party abruptly ends when the elderly Jane Obermann shoots a local handyman in the name of self-defense. China begins to snoop around--and what she finds is shocking.

When a man dies soon after Tullie bashes his head with her cane, China's estranged mother frantically calls for her daughter's help. Rushing to her family's Mississippi plantation, China must determine if her Great Aunt Tullie is guilty of homicide. She must also face the possibility of developing the same terrifying disease that tortures Tullie.

The high school principal asks China Bayles to secretly investigate the popular football coach who led the Panthers to six state championships. Soon after China confirms the coach's predilection for teenage girls, one of his victims turns up dead and suspicion falls upon the lecherous coach.

After his haystacks are burned, Farmer Harmsworth barricades the common path through Applebeck Orchard. Reliable witnesses say the arson was the work of a lantern-bearing specter. But has the culprit left clues Miss Potter can decipher?

Two women who who bear an uncanny resemblance to Dr. Kacey Lambert have been murdered. Kacey believes it is nothing more than a terrible coincidence, but the deeper she digs, the more worried she becomes. Soon, more victims emerge--all bearing a physical resemblance to Kacey--and she begins to wonder when the brutal killer will come hunting for her.

Sarah Booth Delaney investigates when two wealthy heiresses claim a four-million-dollar family necklace was stolen. All the evidence points to insurance fraud, but when Sarah starts poking into the family's dark secrets, one of the heiresses disappears.

Now that they are lovers, Challis and Destry must guard their affections closely, for romantic relationships are against department regulations. This complicates matters as they investigate the brutal assault on a private school chaplain as well as the murder of a public official.

When the master criminal sons of serial killer Nick Parris formulate a plan to spring their father from prison, investigative journalist Irene Kelly finds herself targeted by a deadly vengeance plot.