Trying to beat the mid-winter blahs by snowshoeing and cross country skiing when she's not teaching art history at a local college (or being driven crazy by her numerous cats, cooped up in her rambling old country home), Gerry Coneybear thinks she has her busy life under control. That is, until she rescues her neighbour's injured cat. Then a body pops up where she'd least expect it. And she even knows the victim – slightly. From gossiping with friends to discussing events while baking at home with her housekeeper Prudence, Gerry manages to pick up a few clues, although Prudence tries to discourage her from getting involved. And at first Gerry tries to stay clear of the murder – for murder it is. She gets to know Jean-Louis, a handsome ski instructor, and his adorable blond husky Harriet. Her friendship with the other man in her life, Doug, seems to be floundering. And Jean-Louis lives just down the road...The discovery of a mysterious package tucked up in a tree brings...

It's Christmas time but many of Gerry Coneybear's friends are away for the holidays and she has no family to celebrate with at the Maples, the old house bequeathed to her by her aunt. Just the 23 cats her aunt left her with. When Gerry first finds a bone in her bedroom, naturally she assumes it's a chicken bone one of the cats has dragged in from the garbage. But it turns out to be from a skeleton buried under the floorboards in the shed where her firewood is stored. On the up side, the skeleton is over 100 years old. But then, more disturbingly, Gerry finds another body, the local innkeeper's wife, who has been murdered in the basement of her friend Cathy's house, which Gerry has been checking on while Cathy is out of town for the Christmas holidays.

When Gerry Coneybear, a cheerful young artist, comes to her Aunt Maggie's funeral, she is shocked to learn that she has inherited her aunt's rambling 200-year-old waterfront home. Unfortunately, the house comes with a multitude of her aunt's cats as part of the bequest. As Gerry fends off the greedy, jealous relatives and the mysterious part-time housekeeper, she gradually comes to realize that her aunt may have been murdered. Cats, teacups, horticulture and art come together to help Gerry solve the mystery.