Detective Katie Randall is grateful for the help of FBI agent Jordan Gray when it comes to apprehending her very own burglar, but afterwards she feels awkward around the man. His brother died in a police cell and Jordan's family blamed Kate, the arresting officer, for putting him in a cell with a drugged up maniac. But Jordan has come to terms with the matter. Can they work together to find what happened to Katie's little sister?

With only a couple of weeks to go before Christmas, the pair decide they have to start somewhere and follow a lead to a diner in another town. Here the proprietor believes she had seen a little girl whose fair hair had been hacked off short. She told the police at the time, but the story doesn't seem to be in the file. Suddenly a shot is fired at Katie and Jordan, and chaos ensues; a gunman wrecks a car trying to escape and steals another one, leaving injuries and damage. Can all this be connected?

I found Katie a perhaps overly tough girl, blaming herself for her sister's disappearance, and unable to please her mother no matter how hard she tries. She admits that due to choosing what used to be a male-only job until recently, her feminine side remains largely ignored. The story zips from one drama to another, a car used as a weapon while Katie drives home, then a fire, and the woman's adrenalin level must be soaring. Jordan is far from being on a fast- track, since the vicious nature of child attackers soured him and he elected to only work cold cases. When he speaks to Katie's father, the older man is resigned to the loss of his child and wants Katie to stop searching before the cause eats up the rest of her life. Jordan incongruously thinks that he must let God guide his choices; being a committed Christian is a large part of his makeup.

Lynette Eason has given us an unusual book, reminding us that bad things can occur at Christmas as well as good; CHRISTMAS COVER-UP however is full of hope and love as well as action.

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