Mad As the Dickens — Toni L.P. Kelner

As Christmas approaches, Laura Fleming only wants curl up in her Boston apartment with her English professor husband Richard while they happily await the birth of their first child. But when her cousin Vasti calls wanting Richard to direct a production of Charles Dickens' play, A Christmas Carol, Laura finds herself packing for another trip to Byerly.

When she gets there, Laura finds a number of surprises. The first that is the responsibility of helming a play transforms her mild-mannered hubby into a screaming backstage tyrant. The second is that the usually savvy Vasti has cast furniture salesman Seth Murdstone as her Scrooge. But the biggest surprise of all is grimmer than the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come: while practicing his lines one night on the darkened stage, Seth is brutally murdered.

Now, with a killer in the wings, ready to strike again, it's up to Laura to catch him, before he decides to bring down the final curtain....