Mrs. Claus and the Trouble with Turkeys

April Claus has been married and living at the North Pole with Nick Claus (a.k.a. Santa Claus) for over two years, but there are times she’s still nostalgic for her Oregon home and U.S. customs, which leads to Santaland celebrating its first Thanksgiving with a parade, the seasonal arrival of Santa Claus, pilgrim costumes, and food. When Gobbles, the live turkey who’s going to be eaten for dinner at Castle Kringle, is stolen from his cage, April puts up posters and looks for a birdnapper. That’s still important but put on the back burner when Nick’s cousin Elspeth falls face-first in the mashed potatoes during the pre-Thanksgiving dinner and utters two words, “April” and “look.” Now some blame April for Elspeth’s death, and she’s even put in comfortable custody until the coroner says it wasn’t her dish that poisoned the woman. Once she’s released, April has her hands full, with a jewel-thief elf on the loose and Gobbles still missing—and April is beginning to suspect that Nick’s tightwad brother killed Elspeth.