[Originally sent out December 2021 in 24 Days of Christmas Newsletter, with plot synopses for Hallmark-style holiday movies that I’d like to see.]
On Christmas Eve, the matriarch of a billionaire family gathers her estranged grandchildren at the family compound. All but one attends, thinking this will have something to do with their inheritance. Perhaps Great-Grandmama will host a competition of some sort. They are ready, metaphorical knives sharpened. Barbs are exchanged at the opening steak dinner, but when Rodney the Third is found dead in the library after the meal, it will take more than barbs to solve the mystery of who killed him.
One by one, the family members’ motives are revealed: Annabelle had borrowed fifty thousand dollars from Rodney which she spent on toe implants. Machiavelli had once tried to murder Rodney. Lucy had hated Rodney ever since he named his dog after her and she was offended.
The next morning (Christmas), Great-Grandmama disappears, leaving nothing behind but a note. The person who solves the mystery of Rodney’s murder will inherit her entire fortune! Will the family be torn apart or will they discover the Christmas spirit within?
(Spoiler, it was the one relative who didn’t attend the gathering. This relative went to Singapore to have an airtight alibi, but when they told Rodney they were going, he said how much he liked the cookies they have on the airplane, and they pretended to be so thoughtful and get some of the cookies for Rodney, but the cookies were laced with a slow-acting poison. The motive was that this relative’s name was Boney and he was supposed to have been named Rodney but Rodney was born exactly two minutes before him and his parents stole the name. Then Boney’s parents didn’t want them to have the same name but had already written Rodney on the birth certificate, so they just smudged it out and his name ended up being Boney. With Rodney out of the way, Boney could reclaim the name that was his birthright. Lucy solved the mystery and inherited the fortune, but also ended up getting custody of Rodney’s dog Lucy, and after an initial rocky period they loved each other very much and Lucy bought Lucy a large bone that they would gnaw on together. Great-Grandmama faked her own death and retired to a private island where nobody would bother her.)
24 Days of Christmas
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