Carlyle & Silver Cozy Mysteries · #2

Silver and the Christmas Caper

Jack Gatland

A dead priest. A stolen treasure. And a detective duo with three days to save Christmas.

When Laura Carlyle and Sebastian Silver receive an urgent Christmas summons to the Cotswolds, they expect quaint village charm and mulled wine. What they find is the village priest dead in the church crypt and the most sacred treasure missing from St. Botolph's altar.

Lady Margaret Sinclair insists the theft and murder are connected - Her family has loaned priceless religious artifacts to the village church every Christmas for generations. Now, with Midnight Mass just three days away, both the consecrated pyx and the priest who guarded it are gone.

But Sebastian knows something about aristocratic families and their carefully buried secrets. And Laura knows that when people kill to protect the past, they're usually hiding something worth more than money.

From ancient church crypts to crumbling family estates, the Christmas lights of Ashwood St Boltoph hide centuries of lies. And if Laura and Sebastian can't decode the truth before Christmas Eve, the entire village will lose more than their most treasured celebration...

Published
December 22, 2025
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Author

Jack Gatland

Jack Gatland, the pen name of Tony Lee, is a British author known for crafting intricate crime thrillers that keep readers at the edge of their seats. With a writing career that spans over three decades, Lee's diverse body of work includes everything from graphic novels and comics to television scripts, but it is under the Gatland name that he has truly found his voice in the world of crime fiction. His gripping Detective Inspector Declan Walsh series delves deep into the world of cold cases, bringing life to the "Last Chance Saloon" unit of the City of London Police—where every investigation feels like a race against time, and every…