Stealing Santa — Elizabeth Adams

As the Christmas season arrives in Lancaster, Maine, a series of bizarre burglaries targets the town's businesses, apparently carried out by Santa Claus! Elaine Cook and Jan Blake spring into action to solve the mystery, especially after an attempt is made to rob the tearoom. Who is hiding behind Saint Nick's snowy-white beard? Meanwhile, realizing that her tearoom taste-testing and missing Bob have added to her weight, Jan is determined to eat healthier. But are the holidays the best time to start a diet? And the arrival of an oddly familiar-looking woman asking about the cousins' flea-market painting might shed new light on the story behind the scene depicted by Archie Bentham's artist father.