Pickled for Revenge

Nicko loathes Christmas. He despises the jingling bells, the forced cheer, and most of all the annual outbreak of what he calls seasonal insanity that descends upon his hometown every December 1st. Like a clockwork, the entire village transforms into a living Christmas pageant, marshaled by a well-meaning but alarmingly power-hungry mayor who treats festive compliance like a civic duty.

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This year is no exception. Except that Nicko’s punishment is especially cruel. He is drafted to play Saint Nicholas himself. Worse, his reluctant sidekick is his long-suffering friend Rupert, cast (with suspicious enthusiasm) as Servant Rupert. Bound together by fate, tinsel, and sheer resentment, the two are forced into teamwork they neither want nor requested.

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But the season takes a darker turn when the village pastor is found dead in his bathtub—well before the first candle of Advent has even burned down. Suddenly, the carefully choreographed Christmas spectacle is threatened, and panic spreads faster Glühwein during the lighting ceremony.

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With the mayor determined to keep the festivities alive at any cost, and the authorities distracted by snow, schedules, and scandal, it falls to the most unlikely pair imaginable: Two unwilling Christmas “experts” who would rather be anywhere else but here. 

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Armed with sarcastic humor, skepticism, and a suspiciously important pickle, Nicko and Rupert must uncover the truth behind a decidedly unseasonal murder before Christmas is canceled… or someone else ends up dead.

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Welcome to Pickled for Revenge! Where goodwill is mandatory, murder is inconvenient, and Christmas refuses to be ignored.