Funeral director and part-time sheriff Barry Clayton finds United States Junior Chamber (Jaycee) member Archie Donovan's request absurd until he learns the casket will be the centerpiece of the Jaycees' haunted house, a charity event with all proceeds going to the children's hospital. nbsp; But when the president of the Jaycees is murdered in the casket on Halloween, the national press descends upon Gainesboro to cover the bizarre crime.nbsp;Sheriff Tommy Lee Wadkins assigns Barry to be the lead investigator of a case that presents no motive and no suspects.nbsp;Then someone fires a shot at Archie Donovan, and Barry wonders whether the victim in the casket had even been the intended target. nbsp; Barry finds his police work and personal life on a collision course as his ex-wife Rachel comes to town with high hopes of using the story to launch her TV network career.nbsp;She begins prying into the lives of Gainesboro's most distinguished citizens and creates a backlash that leaves another body in its wake.nbsp;Old wounds are ripped open, family rifts exposed, and a criminal enterprise revealed that cuts to the heart of the community. nbsp; Barry Clayton must follow a trail of clues as winding as a forest path.nbsp;The unexpected destination: a mountainside of Christmas trees.nbsp;Somewhere behind these symbols of peace and goodwill lurks a killer.nbsp;Unmasking him will be a fatal undertaking.
