A Stillness in Bethlehem

Haddam repeats a holiday here (Christmas was previously covered in _Not a Creature Was Stirring_, the first volume of the series). The events of _A Stillness in Bethlehem_ take place immediately after _A Feast of Murder_; at a minimum, you should try to read that one before reading this one. This is one of the few Demarkian mysteries that *don't* involve poison. (The recurring use of poison makes sense, actually, since Gregor made himself an expert on poisons during his tenure at the FBI.) You'll also be treated to a varied menu of conspiracy theories of one sort and another, but nothing so ordinary as Oliver Stone's. :)Since Armenia declared independence only a few months before, Cavanaugh Street has been inundated with refugees, and Father Tibor has worked his fingers to the bone organizing food and shelter, and sending supplies back to Armenia. (For a couple of books, everyone on Cavanaugh Street put up a few refugees until they got on their feet - after all, you never know who might be a 3rd or 4th cousin. Changes phased in gradually after that: the neighborhood expanded a bit, and Tibor's church had enough kids to have an Armenian Orthodox parochial school, and so on. But that's in the future at this point in the series.)Soon after Bennis and Gregor get home from the Thanksgiving fiasco in _A Feast of Murder_, Tibor collapses from exhaustion and from not eating enough. ("I'm still furious...I mean, I'm rich, Gregor. Tibor doesn't have to starve himself to feed a lot of refugees." "I think you got that across to him in the long run, Bennis." "I should have been able to get it across to him in the *short* run.")Anyhow, Gregor and Bennis are now checking Tibor into a hotel in Bethlehem, Vermont, for a much-needed rest. Why Bethlehem? Tibor's always wanted to see the Christmas pageant held there every year. He first heard of it in his early days as a refugee in Israel, before he immigrated to the U.S. And Bennis, whose connections put Gregor in mind of a spy ring, managed to get hold of some good hotel rooms, even though it's the height of Bethlehem's tourist season.The ACLU, of course, has a standing offer to sue the town over the pageant, but nobody's bitten so far. The pageant, after all, turns such a profit that Bethlehem's budget for the year doesn't need too much in the way of higher taxes. Nobody wants to be first to complain, certainly.Until now, that is. Patricia Feld Verek, a writer of true-crime novels and a spiteful woman, has moved to Bethlehem with her husband, Jan-Mark (an artist in the most offensive modern mode). She's working on a book about children who commit murder, with case histories; he's spending his time having affairs with various local figures, both male and female. (Some are prominent, some aren't.) Tisha decides to take up the ACLU's offer - not because she cares about the pageant, but because she has a taste for a bit of drama. She gets more than she bargained for - she's shot to death before she can actually see h