The Ornament Exchange Murder (Christmas in July Mystery)

When holiday cheer turns deadly, one retired teacher must unwrap the truth before the killer strikes again…

When retired art teacher Grace Hartwell organizes Pine Valley's Christmas in July ornament exchange, she expects friendly trading and holiday cheer, not murder. But the festive community event turns deadly when Veronica Sterling, the town's most competitive collector, is found dead in the storage room surrounded by shattered glass ornaments.

Veronica had made enemies all morning with her cutting remarks about "amateur work" and accusations of fraud against fellow collectors. Now someone has stolen her prized 1920s glass peacock and the notebook documenting her planned investigation into widespread deception in the local collecting community.

Grace teams up with Detective Ray Martinez to untangle a web of suspects. There's Carol, the struggling craft store owner whose work Veronica publicly dismissed, Frank, the antique dealer whose expertise she questioned, and Veronica's own family members, bitter about being cut from their grandmother's valuable collection. When the missing ornament is planted in an innocent widower's car, Grace realizes the killer is calculating enough to frame others.

The investigation reveals that Veronica's notebook contained accusations that could destroy reputations and end careers. Someone was desperate enough to kill to keep those secrets buried. As Grace digs deeper into small-town rivalries and hidden financial pressures, she discovers the killer has been manipulating events from the beginning, using community trust as the perfect cover for murder.

In this charming cozy mystery debut, Grace must use her teaching skills and understanding of human nature to identify a killer hiding behind respectability. With holiday atmosphere, small-town secrets, and puzzles solved through observation rather than technology, this tale keeps readers guessing until the final revelation about who turned Christmas spirit into deadly deception.