Detective Richard Jury, in the hospital recovering from a gunshot wound, becomes intrigued with the mystery of the disappearance of his surgeon's teenage daughter who was apparently kidnapped nearly two years earlier from her grandfather's stud farm, along with a champion horse.

Alessandra Cecchi becomes enchanted with a young painter her father has brought back from nortern Europe to decorate the chapel walls in the family's Florentine palazzo, but their relationship is interrupted when Alessandra's parents arrange her marriage to a wealthy older man.

Paul Iverson's Life Changes in an instant. He returns home one day to find that his wife, Lexy, has died under strange circumstances. The only witness was their dog, Lorelei, whose anguished barking brought help to the scene-but too late. In the days and weeks that follow, Paul begins to notice strange "clues" in their home: books rearranged on their shelves, a mysterious phone call, and other suggestions that nothing about Lexy's last afternoon was...

In her eighth dip into the Calder story pool, prolific romance writer Dailey focuses on Laura Calder, the 21-year-old granddaughter of crusty Montana millionaire Chase Calder. The young woman is fresh out of college and making the obligatory rich-kid tour of Europe before she settles down to a life of, well, she's not sure. In the meantime, life is good. She's traveling with her "aunt" (really daddy's first wife) Tara and meeting lots of interesting...

A dead child in the streets, and a dead woman on the grounds of an estate owned by Declan Scott, whose own child was abducted and whose wife subsequently died, are the two incidents connected in Jury's 19th case.

While decorating Elm Creek Manor on Christmas Eve, Sarah McClure discovers an unfinished Christmas quilt. Only Sylvia Bergstrom Compson, the master quilter and matriarch of Elm Creek Manor, knows the story behind the quilt, revealing that it's the work of several generations of the Bergstrom family. Sarah suggests that they complete the quilt. Although reluctant at first, as they do so, Sylvia rediscovers the joy of the Christmas quilt.

Thirty-three-year-old widow Tracy Potter, in the midst of renovating the historic Heartbreak Hotel--the only asset she has left after the death of her wheeler-dealer husband--takes in Wade MacAllister, a famous author running from his past, and together they try to learn to trust and love again.

Burned-out New Jersey narcotics officer Stephanie Lowe buys a house on the coast of Maine with intentions of opening a bed-and-breakfast, but a leaky toilet and other problems--including a ghost--lead her to a cooking gig on a schooner captained by Ivan, the man who sold her the place, whose good looks and charm suddenly seem more potent to Stephanie at sea than they did on land.

Spenser is hired by Lily Ellsworth to investigate her grandson's involvement in a school shooting.

Stone Barrington, suave Manhattan cop-turned-lawyer, is suspicious when he is offered a very hefty retainer to manage the affairs of Texan Billy Bob Barnstormer, and he soon discovers he should have heeded his instincts when his new client, who is wanted by the CIA and the U.S. attorney's office, leaves a dead prostitute in the guest room.