As Red as Any Blood — Patrice Greenwood

Yuletide in Santa Fe: biscochitos, farolitos, Las Posadas, music...and murder. Ellen Rosings does not have time for murder investigations. It's December, and the Wisteria Tearoom is awash in shoppers, cookies, and groups of strange women brought to tea by the eccentric Bird Woman. Alas, Ellen must cope with murder anyway. One of her high school classmates is stabbed to death, and she and her best friend Gina can't resist the puzzle. Handsome Tony Aragón is on the case, and Ellen is only too happy to assist, but when a second classmate of Ellen's turns up dead, Tony's protective instinct kicks in. Much as Ellen agrees, she can't stay in a cocoon -- she's got a business to run. Is the fact that the victim has recently been to the tearoom merely a coincidence? Could Tony's gratifying concern for Ellen's safety inspire him to become her personal bodyguard? And what on earth should she get him for Christmas?