The bagpipes are blaring at Moosetookalook's finest hotel, reopened just in time to host an annual celebration of Scotland's most beloved poet. But when the Scottish Heritage Appreciation Society arrives on the scene, they bring more than a hunger for haggis and a passion for plaid.

While spending a week at her friend's Christmas tree farm, Liss MacCrimmon Ruskin is drawn into a mystery involving a dead body in a shipment of Scotch pine, a series of "accidents," and a strange maze of trees.

Liss MacCrimmon misses the life of a professional dancer with Strathspey, the Scottish dance company she belonged to before her knee injury forced her into early retirement. When the company goes on tour, Liss is instrumental in bringing the show to her hometown of Moosetookalook, Maine. But when the company manager collapses and dies after biting into one of Liss's prized cocktail scones, it's up to Liss to find out whodunit before the killer makes...