All is quiet at Balmoral Castle. Jon, the royal family's personal chef, is the only staff member not dismissed for the holiday season, as per request of King Eric. When a blizzard isolates the family and Jon with no way in or out, and the king dies a mysterious death, tension flares between the royal family, and it's up to Jon to solve the murder. This well-paced murder mystery, all told in the span of twenty-four hours, offers an intriguing fictionalized version of a royal family, all of whom are sometimes outlandish, sometimes frustrating, and always unequivocally entertaining. (HH)