A Threat at the Feast

How can you trust what you don't understand?

In November, amateur sleuth Rae Riley can be thankful for many things but not the media attention brought by a couple of recent cases she and her dad, Sheriff Walter "Mal" Malinowski solved in rural Marlin County, Ohio. The publicity also brings a visit from the estranged grandfather and mother of her sort-of boyfriend, Deputy Chris Kincaid, but he wants nothing to do with his family. Since his mom Nix Moore is an actress and his grandfather Kenneth Moore, a movie director, Chris says they've only come to exploit the publicity the high-profile cases provide.

But Rae suspects Kenneth is visiting for another reason. She notices he carries a gun and seems afraid when Chris reports a trespasser on his property and when a producer and his son, superhero movie star Talon Moore, arrive in the county.

Then Kenneth is found murdered outside the library where Rae works, and someone attacks Rae's friend Devon and searches the library. It appears the killer used Kenneth's crime films as a blueprint for the murder. Evidence piles up against Chris, making him the main suspect for Chief of Police Simcox, who is still angry he lost the sheriff's election to Mal. Struggling with his faith, Chris can't understand why God is letting this happen to him, and Rae is just as lost.

Why was Chris's grandfather terrified and what is the killer looking for it? Rae and Mal race to answer those questions and bring Chris home by Thanksgiving before he's prosecuted for first-degree murder.