Copywriter and mystery buff Karin Niemi has sworn off DIY murder investigations. Forever. Her first and only case brought her perilously close to death at the hands of a gun-toting sociopath, in her own kitchen, no less. It was an experience she has no intention of repeating. Now the only murder Karin is interested in solving is in the Nero Wolfe novel she plans to read during a long, relaxing and uneventful summer vacation back home, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. She also harbors a quiet hope-a hope she would never openly admit-that maybe, just maybe, Lake Superior will work its magic and begin to heal the deep grief she still feels nearly two years after her husband's death.

But life, as usual, has other plans. Two days after she and her best friend Bixie arrive in Munising, their former boss-a man with a penchant for cruelty and a gift for making enemies-is murdered in his vacation home, less than a mile from their own lakeside bungalow. Suddenly, they're on the suspect list...and on the case.

The stakes are high. So despite the distractions of an infuriating downstate reporter, a formidable local sheriff, a motley array of Karin's up-north family and friends, members of the local Ojibwe tribe with a grudge against the murdered man, and Bixie's overly protective police officer brother-who arrives in town uninvited and unwelcome-they both remain deadly serious about pursuing the killer. A killer who, as they discover, is also deadly serious about pursuing them.