As Emerald Point gears up for its best holiday season ever, the murder of a respected nurse sets the quiet Lake George town on edge. Mayor Loren Graham comes to the aid of the chief suspect, Lucas Prendergast, the Adirondack Woodsman she remembers from her childhood visits to the lake, only to see suspicion fall on her friend Kate’s ex-husband Tim Donohue, Josie’s father.

Against a backdrop of winter activities—Loren’s first Christmas party with fiancé Don Morrison, an ill-fated New Year’s Eve celebration, Lake George Village’s colorful Polar Bear Plunge, a trip to Gore Mountain Ski Center and a Mardi Gras on the Ice, Loren searches for answers and digs deep enough to incur a killer’s wrath.