SYNOPSIS

When a record-breaking Polar Vortex slams across the nation, the small Texas island of Pelican Shores is sealed tight. No ferries. No roads. No passage. No way in or out.

Local artist and café owner Finn Dockrey and her golden retriever Beau plan to keep spirits merry and bright with cocoa, gingerbread, and small-town cheer…until she and her best friend Birdie Black discover a body tangled in Christmas lights, floating near the Dockside Pavilion.

The victim, Frank Townsend, a retired fisherman turned sandwich vendor, wasn”’t loved, but he wasn’t hated either. So, who wanted him dead? As fingers point and rumors fly, tension grips the stranded town. The coroner is trapped on the mainland, and Detective Pace Stringfellow is running on grit and caffeine, so Finn takes matters into her own mystery-solving hands.

Every neighbor is suddenly suspect: The jealous (albeit handsome…just ask Birdie) chef, the city-ordinance zealot, the mysterious newcomer with an unknown past. As the temperature plummets and the clock ticks toward Christmas, Finn and Beau must untangle a web of jealousy, scandal, and deadly motive before the island’s cozy holiday magic turns into someone’s last silent night.

REVIEW

I’ll never again look at community Christmas parties or gift baskets in a casual manner. But then nothing in Pelican Shores is ever as innocent as it first appears.