Cobie Smulders has played Emily Lane for five seasons now, and the familiarity pays off: the character has a rhythm, a set of deflections and a stubborn streak, and you can hear the writing trust the performer with all three. Raymond Ablack's Sam Wilner is the right kind of foil, patient enough that his frustration lands when it finally shows.

Three hours and fifty-eight minutes, three mysteries, and a full cast rather than a single voice, plus the sound design the series is known for. Kylee Evans and Jean Yoon are among the returning ensemble, and the whole thing is produced to be listened to in the dark of a December evening, which is exactly the point.

Housekeeping: this is the fifth season, so there is a history behind the relationship that the story assumes you know, and it is exclusive to Audible, which is why there is one button here. It also has no ratings yet.

If the format is what you are after, Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel is another recent full-cast mystery, and The Stone Sisters takes family secrets into darker territory. This one is the lightest and the most seasonal of the three.

What I like most is that the cases are small in scale and personal in consequence. Nobody is saving the world here; somebody is lying about a name, and that turns out to be enough to get people killed. It is the audio equivalent of a very good Christmas film, and I mean that as praise rather than as a limit.

And a small thing that matters: the town is written with affection rather than with the usual wink, so the festive trimmings never turn into parody.