Cold Winter Nights — Anne White

It promises to be the best and brightest winter season yet for the picturesque Lake George town of Emerald Point. Mayor Loren Graham, newly engaged, anticipates goodwill and glad tidings -- everything but murder. When a kind and well-liked nurse from town is found dead in her home, all clues point to a mysterious local man, an elusive mountain hermit called "the Woodsman." His immediate arrest upsets Loren, who knew the strange but kindhearted man from her childhood. Now he needs her help to prove his innocence.

Digging deeper into the circumstances of the murder, she discovers the victim had a few secrets of her own, including some close relationships with several men. When one of them turns out to be the husband of her dear friend, Loren is determined to clear his name, as well. Soon a sordid string of jealousy, lies and desperation draws into a dangerous stranglehold around Loren. Because all that stands between a killer and the perfect crime is a mayor asking too many questions....