The Quilliam sisters, Meg and Sarah, are working hard to keep the Inn at Hemlock Falls open. In a strange way the bank has decided to send them their version of a Christmas gift. The bank has sent an efficiency expert, Albert McWhirter, to "help" them find ways to save time and effort. It's just too bad that his living up to the nickname he acquired from his co-workers, they call him Scrooge. Salvation might be headed the sisters way when an old classmate Lydia Kingsfield and her husband Zeke leases the Inn as the backdrop for cooking show they're shooting. Nothing is ever quite that easy though, is it? Lydia soon also receives a nickname that suits, Loathsome Lydia, and the Kingsfields bring more upheaval than salvation. And it gets worse. After Zeke's body is found at the bottom of the gorge, it is assumed he went off the trail while he was cross-country skiing leading Lydia to threaten a lawsuit. Zeke's shady dealings, and trying to decide exactly what about those dealings are shady, force Quill to start questioning everything she thinks she knows about the couple. If Zeke really was murdered, which of the many reasons that people had to hate him was the actual motivation? With the multiple distractions of a kitchen undergoing renovation for the cooking show, the efficiency expert interviewing the entire staff at the Inn, and a possible murderer in their midst how will the sisters be able to focus on saving their business? Can they do it all? Perhaps they can, with a little help from their friends and maybe a Christmas miracle?

This is the sixteenth book in the Hemlock Falls Mystery series. The series seems to be going strong and with good reason. The wide variety of characters, handily identified in the opening "Cast of Characters," makes this small-town seem larger than life. There is someone for everyone to connect with and the complex relationships ring true. Not to mention the who, the how, and the why of the who-dunnit are all very nicely done!