Tis the season of goodwill, and Dickens extends the hand of friendship to a stranded stranger and his nephews for Christmas, with deadly consequences . . .Wilkie Collins is looking forward to spending Christmas at Gads Hill, Charles Dickens' Kentish country home, but the festivities are cut short when a body is found on the snowy marshland. Timmy O'Connor was invited to the gathering with his four nephews after a chance encounter with Dickens, but is now dead. Dickens is convinced the murderer is one of the convicts from a nearby prison ship, but Collins is not so sure. Who was this mysterious and unpleasant stranger from Cork who turned Christmas cheer to fear? Could Timmy have posed a threat to one of the guests? With the convicts, guests and even Timmy's nephews under suspicion, there is no shortage of suspects for such a violent act, but which one of them is a cold-blooded killer?