All Sergeant Hamish Macbeth wants to do is fish and drink coffee with his fiancee. But when a mysterious stranger moves into the neighboring village, a rivalry erupts among the local women, and the men of the village start a slow burn. It is amusing until death threats, assault, and murder shatter the tranquil countryside.

Left alone in chilly Lochdubh, Scotland, while his family spends Christmas in Florida, Constable Hamish Macbeth copes with a missing cat and the disappearance of a town's holiday tree and decorations, while searching for a way to make a little girl's Christmas dreams come true

Constable Hamish Macbeth finds himself confronted by a wealth of suspects when gorgeous, yet vindictive, BBC reporter Crystal French, who has made many enemies in the village of Dochdubh, is found murdered.

Confounded by the murder of Lochdubh writing circle's long-winded organizer, police officer Hamish Macbeth investigates the victim's writings for clues and wonders at sinister themes within an unfinished soap opera script.

Less than delighted when he wins the maid services of Mrs. Gillespie, a notorious and malicious gossip, in the local church raffle, Hamish Macbeth suddenly finds himself investigating the death of the local cleaning woman.