These Lily Bard novels stand out among traditional cozy mysteries because of the noirish spin Harris puts on the seemingly typical charming southern town of Shakespeare, AR, on her heroine. Lily Bard makes a compelling amateur sleuth. Here she heads home to Bartley, AR, for her sister Varenas Christmas wedding. But soon after she arrives, Lilys private-detective boyfriend shows up too: hes investigating a 4-year-old unsolved kidnapping. Lily cant help but get involved when she discovers that the case hits dangerously close to home – for Varenas new husband is the widowed father of a girl bearing a remarkable resemblance to the vanished child