The Mitford series has moved the hearts of millions of fans. Shepherds Abiding, which is accompanied here by two additional short stories, is a wonderful Christmas gift for all listeners. When Father Tim finds a battered nativity scene in an antique shop, he embarks on a humble endeavor to save it.

"Grace Church is putting on its first ever living Nativity, and the congregation members are all pitching in, including Mary Fisher, owner of Mary's Mystery Bookshop. But only a week before Christmas, the costumes go missing. Then the sheep escapes from its pen and the flyers around town have all been torn down. Someone is sabotaging the living Nativity! A lifetime of reading mystery novels has given Mary sleuthing skills of her own, but as she investigates...

Like most things in Ellery, Tennessee, this year's Drive Thru Nativity is a little unconventional. The Dollar General parking lot doubles as a Bethlehem stable, and widowed writer Ivy Long, who's been roped into playing Mary, sure as heck isn't a virgin. But then comes an unexpected development: a genuine, real-life baby left in the manger, with only a brief note. And somehow, in the kerfluffle that follows, Ivy finds her life is about to change....

"This holiday season in Eagle River, the past is never far from the present. Kate is bracing herself for a blue Christmas this year. It's the first since her divorce, most of her decorations are missing after too-many moves, and her impromptu gesture of goodwill to one struggling family has caused trouble at the post office. But her troubles take a back seat after a mail stop at one of the area's oldest churches presents a puzzling dilemma. The rural...