Over one terrible weekend, two teenage girls are found dead in a wealthy Chicago suburb. As the community mourns, Abby Rosso, the girls’ high school counselor, begins to suspect that her son was secretly involved in their lives --- and possibly their deaths. Abby doesn’t want to believe Benjamin hurt anyone. But she’s seen the warning signs before. Two decades ago, her brother was imprisoned for a disturbing crime --- he was only a little older than Benjamin is now. And Abby has more troubling memories from her own adolescence that confirm what boys and men are capable of. As Abby searches for the truth about what happened to her students, she’s forced to face the question: Has she been making excuses for Benjamin for years?

In the crisp mountain air of central Oregon, a teenage girl’s search for discarded cans leads to a horrifying discovery: a body, brutally murdered and abandoned in the woods. The case falls to Deschutes County Detective Noelle Marshall, who finds herself navigating a community steeped in secrets, suspicion and distrust of outsiders --- especially law enforcement. Miles away, FBI Special Agent Max Rhodes investigates a different kind of darkness --- chatter about a violent uprising from a shadowy militia group preparing for war. The two cases seem worlds apart. But as Noelle digs into the murdered man’s past and Max closes in on the source of the terror plot, their paths begin to converge in a terrifying way. This was no random killing. It was a message.

At Naysay Inc., Megan’s job is to whisper negative thoughts straight into the minds of clients in the Real World. It’s all in a day’s dirty work in Naysayland, the parallel reality where your negativity is manufactured and self-doubt is a commodity. But when she is assigned to sabotage a romance between lifestyle influencer Lily and author Jasper, Megan’s carefully constructed reality begins to unravel. The project teams her with Ben, the smug but cute whisperer in the next cubicle. As they work to tear down Lily and Jasper’s situationship, Megan and Ben are catching feelings for each other. As their empathy grows, and they start rooting for the relationship they’re tasked with destroying, dreaded HR is sniffing around. Now they’re facing a choice: keep crushing dreams for a paycheck, or risk everything for their own fairy tale.

Two decades have passed since Callie Kingman begrudgingly followed her husband, Thomas, across the country in pursuit of his career at the expense of her own. Today, Callie is an empty nester with no job prospects, a declining mother, and a spouse who announces his intention to leave her --- in Sacramento, the dullest city in America. His parting potshot: “It’s not me, it’s you.” Taking to bed, Callie relies on delivery for food, her neighbor for booze, and her college best friend for commiseration. When an overdue annual exam leads to a health scare, Callie is forced to contend with her fractured and unfulfilled life by revisiting the vibrant, indomitable woman she used to be.

Born enslaved in 18th-century Georgia, Nella May Carter still believes in the will to survive amid the most untenable of conditions, in the glory of life, and in the ultimate goodness of the human race. She asks that Death, doubtful and curious, allow her to live long enough to prove it. He’s giving Nella all the time in the world. Challenged, Nella embarks on an epic journey across the globe and centuries. Each new incarnation records the joys and losses, and the friendships and heartbreaks, throughout her lifetimes. When she meets handsome and passionate professor Sebastian Moore --- the first man to whom she has ever revealed her secrets --- Nella yearns for the mortality that escapes her. She can’t bear to leave this love behind. As Death keeps watch, has Nella’s journey come to an end? Or is a new one just beginning?

Mercy and Troy are looking forward to baby Felicity’s first holiday season. At Northshire’s annual Solstice Soirée, hosted by Northshire’s finest and funded by Mercy’s billionaire pal Feinberg, Amy’s little girl Helena is sitting on Santa Claus’ lap. She’s telling him she’d like a Bitty Baby doll just like little Felicity when the bearded man leaps up, thrusts the toddler at her mother Amy, and staggers away from the festivities. He disappears into the woods. By the time Elvis and Mercy find him, Santa Claus --- aka the town mayor --- is lying on his back, dead. This strange murder is the first of a series of similar Solstice-themed killings targeting the town’s most prominent citizens. Mercy and Troy and the dogs must team up with Thrasher and Harrington to capture The Yuletide Killer before he strikes again, this time far closer to home.

Lady Petra Forsyth and some of the most illustrious members of the ton descend upon Windsor Castle for a week of royal celebrations, with the highlight being Queen Charlotte’s inaugural patisserie contest for the best bakers employed by England’s finest houses. Not only is Lady Petra’s own cook one of the contestants, but Her Majesty has requested that Petra herself serve as one of the judges. Yet upon arrival, Petra encounters a frantic housemaid pointing to a body of one of Her Majesty’s guests --- and to the valet still tugging at the silk ribbon used to strangle the victim. What’s more, the valet turns out to be Oliver Beecham, the ne’er-do-well brother of Petra’s own lady’s maid, Annie. But as Oliver is hauled away to the dungeons, he protests his innocence. When some poisoned tea meant for Petra is consumed by one of her fellow judges, it’s clear that the real killer is still walking the castle’s halls.

Mirren Sutherland stumbled into a career as an antiquarian book hunter after finding a priceless antique book in her great aunt’s attic. Now, as Christmas approaches, she’s been hired by Jamie McKinnon, the surprisingly young and handsome laird of a Highland clan whose ancestral holdings include a vast crumbling castle. Family lore suggests that the McKinnon family’s collection includes a rare book so valuable that it could save the entire estate. Jamie needs Mirren to help him track down this treasure, which he believes is hidden in his own home. But on the train to the Highlands, Mirren runs into rival book hunter Theo Palliser. Almost as soon as Mirren and Theo arrive at the castle, a deep snow blankets the Highlands, cutting off the outside world. Stuck inside, the three of them plot their search as the wind whistles outside.

Long ago, Arthur Poole built a grand house overlooking the turbulent ocean in a Maine village that bore his name. Today, Sonya MacTavish lives in that house --- a manor that has been cursed for generations. Within its walls, she has witnessed the deaths of seven brides and the thefts of seven wedding rings. And now, to break the curse and banish a malevolent spirit once and for all, a difficult task must be completed. After Sonya; her boyfriend, Trey; and their friends are forced to hear, see --- and feel --- the suffering of the house’s many ghosts, their bond only strengthens and their anger is renewed. Refusing to let her spirit be broken, Sonya searches each room for clues to her ancestors’ hidden story. But the enemy in the black dress continues to hover and come at her in frightening forms.

An army veteran with a career as a beat cop behind her, security guard Addie Finch finds Jonathan, a homeless teenager abandoned by his mother, holed up in a warehouse and vulnerable to the elements and to predators. Touched by the boy’s gentle nature and a wisdom beyond his years, Addie offers him temporary shelter in her garden shed in exchange for maintaining the sprawling property. It’s an act of kindness and purpose that means the world to Jonathan. But when Addie faces a situation that sends her internal world tumbling, the emotional connection with Jonathan becomes her lifeline as well. As both process past traumas, Addie and Jonathan forge a surrogate grandmother-grandson bond --- a chosen family that could restore trust and heal hearts they thought were broken forever.