Melia is found to have a Bible quote on her body that could be construed as a death threat. Portal has also been the recipient of such notes and agrees to help Queenie look into Melia's death. Before the pair can get very far, other homeless people begin to die, and the one connection appears to be the Toronto courts.

All of the victims had been treated unfairly by the courts and spent days hanging around courtrooms. Ellis and Queenie are both concerned that if they don't get to the bottom of the murders soon, Ellis may be the next victim.

The Feast of St. Stephen is a richly complex novel. Not only is it an engrossing mystery, it is also an excellent character study. Portal is a man who was on the top and had a very fast and furious fall, spent two years on the bottom and is slowly working his way back to life. Portal takes complete responsibility for his demise, (though exactly what it was is never revealed, only hinted at) and doesn't scorn others who have suffered a similar fate. While he admits to repeatedly suggesting his wife divorce him for the past seven years, when she finally does he is saddened and shocked. Rosemary Aubert does not simply fill the book with assorted homeless people and other characters, but gives them each a distinct personality and life of their own.

The mystery is very satisfying; the killings seemingly linked to a crossword puzzle based on the Christmas carol “Good King Wenceslas.” The second Ellis Portal mystery can be enjoyed without reading the previous book; the allusions made to it are explained well enough not to detract from the story, but nonetheless, readers will find themselves in search of the first book as they eagerly await the next Ellis Portal mystery.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry