All That Glitters — Donna Ball

Raine Stockton looks back on how she first met Cisco, her incorrigible golden retriever pup, in this Raine Stockton Dog Mystery Christmas short story (approximately 50 print pages).

Times are hard in the small Smoky Mountain town of Hansonville, North Carolina, and for former forest service employee Raine Stockton this Christmas will be harder than most as she prepares to spend her first holiday without her family, without a job… and without a dog. When a mysterious Secret Santa starts making dreams come true all over the county everyone's spirits are on the rise, but Raine can't help but wonder whether there is more to this enigmatic philanthropist than meets the eye. Meanwhile, the police are baffled by a string of crimes that are unlike anything the small town has ever seen before. It will take a mischievous golden retriever pup to find the clues that solve both mysteries… and to heal Raine's broken heart.