In college, Cory Goodwin and Lilah Darnell were rebel artists. Now Cory's a Boston-based freelance journalist, and Lilah's the trophy wife of wealthy publisher Bruce Easton. When Lilah calls with a surprise invitation to Caxton Press's posh Christmas party, Cory hears a cry for help. She also smells a scoop. It's rumored that Harvard's top biologists are hotly competing for two prizes: a lucrative book contract and the directorship of Chute Labs. The major players in both battles will be at the Eastons' party. But as Cory's crossing Connecticut, a snowstorm sends her car skidding off the road. Her nameless rescuer turns up later that night at the Eastons' door: Tony Cyr, former editor of Caxton Press. Uninvited and drunk, he's accused by Bruce Easton of staging a string of nasty practical jokes that threaten to ruin the evening. Tony observes these are the same guests who were here last summer when Bruce's son drowned in the pond. Coincidence? Now everyone wants to leave; but in this blizzard, no one can. When the pranks escalate to murder, it's up to Cory?daughter of a private detective, and the only outsider?to uncover the truth: is Tony an ally, as he claims, or a killer?
