Upon the Midnight Clear — Tasha Alexander

In UPON THE MIDNIGHT CLEAR, a heartwarming new Christmas short story featuring Tasha Alexander's beloved Victorian sleuth, Lady Emily and her husband, Colin, discover a clue in a Christmas cracker that leads to a true holiday miracle.

While most of London society has fled to their country estates for the holidays, Lady Emily and her family are enjoying a few days in the city. On a shopping trip to Hamley's Toy Shop, a kind-hearted stranger gives Emily's son a Christmas cracker -- but when he opens it to reveal a cryptic clue inside, Emily suspects there's more to the gift than Christmas cheer.

By the next day, her suspicions seem well-founded when a Scottish stranger arrives with a heartbreaking tale and an urgent plea for help. He believes his long-lost daughter, kidnapped by her well-meaning grandparents as an infant, may be hidden away somewhere in London. As Colin and Emily trace the clues through the city's snowy streets, more mysterious crackers arrive to guide their investigation. But who is sending them? What do they mean? Emily and Colin must find the answers as they seek to reunite a father with his beloved daughter by Christmas Eve.