It's almost summer in small town Port Ainslie. Or is it? Temperatures are so far below normal that Police Chief Maxine Benson and her team are wearing sweaters. But is it cold enough to freeze the body of the man found in a ditch on the outskirts of town one morning? Maxine starts to investigate, but she is elbowed aside by the mostly-male provincial police force so she takes charge on her own. Soon she's visiting the victim's cold-hearted widow, tracking the widow's mysterious brother, and confronting the killer alone in a tract of forest. Will Maxine's skills solve this twisting tale of a case?