Things turn deadly when the local postmistress is found hanged in her room ... with a vicious note beneath her dangling feet. Though his superiors call it suicide, PC Hamish Macbeth pronounces it murder. But Hamish is soon distracted by Jenny Ogilvie, a friend of his ex-fiancee, who arrives in Lochdubh to seduce him. And then he's ambushed by local reporter Elspeth Grant, who sets out to land the story – and Hamish – for herself. Caught in the middle of this volatile case, Hamish faces dangerous romances ... and a blackhearted culprit wielding a mighty – and lethal – pen.