With work on the reconstruction of her beloved home almost complete, Jessica Fletcher is in high holiday spirits, spearheading the annual Christmas pageant, supervising the Friends of the Library's toy drive, and preparing for her nephew Grady and his family to come to town. The only thing dampening the holiday cheer is the discovery on Jessica's property of two sets of bones- one set ancient, the other only a few weeks old. It's concluded they were both placed there during the construction, and Jessica suspects that despite the centuries between them, the remains might be connected.
Soon, tabloid reporter Tad Hollenback arrives in Cabot Cove to write a story about what he calls "Murder Cove, USA." But when Tad himself is murdered, Jessica speculates that his arrival, his death, and the discovery of the bones are all connected.
As Jessica digs deeper to find the connection between the bones and the murder, everything seems to come back to a mystery that has long plagued Cabot Cove. If she wants to solve the case, she'll need to delve into her beloved town's dark history, or else this holiday season may be her last....
