The Shortest Day — Jane Langton

A holiday brew spiced with medieval revelry, romantic rivalry--and a soupcon of murder

Christmas in Cambridge is time for the annual Revels, a festival of dance and drama that harks back to ancient midwinter rituals and incantations to drive away the fearful gloom of winter. But this year, amid the stomp and jingle of Morris dancers, gallant St. George isn't the only one who gets slain.

Stage director Sarah Bailey is beloved by all, enchanting to several--including starstruck astronomy professor Arlo Field--and bewitching and bedeviling to her husband, Morgan. For Morgan is in thrall to the deadly sin of jealousy, and his certainty that he's being cuckolded turns the joyous Revels into a dark affair, where Homer Kelly must discover who's bringing the curtain down on some of the players for good.