I’ve missed this year’s Winter Solstice by a day, but no matter. This cover gives me the chills every time I look at it. Those of you who live in more temperate climes simply don’t know what you’re missing. (Or you do, and that’s why that’s where you are.)

   Unfortunately, I can’t find any indication of who the artist is who did the cover.

AVON. Paperback original, June 2005.

      From the back cover:

In a historic, if isolated, New England hotel, some of the most respected names in archaeology are coming together to celebrate the work of Julius Garrison, a legend in the field. It’s a conference Emma Fielding is determined to attend — braving a furious winter storm to get there — even though Garrison is no friend to her or her family. And when the honoree’s lifeless body is discovered outside the snow-bound inn, Emma suddenly finds she is a murder suspect, along with a surprising number of the other guests. The bitterness widely spread by a cantankerous old man has had fatal consequences, forcing Emma Fielding to put her archaeological skills to forensic use to uncover the truth. But a strange series of thefts and attacks — and eerie rumors about a ghostly prowler — suggest that truth may be more deadly than Emma imagines.