Tamarack County, Minnesota, the gateway to the pristine Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Within its borders lie a million acres of deep forest, a thousand crystal clear lakes, and a few quiet towns. This is the place that, for most of his life, sheriff-turned private investigator Cork O'Connor has called home. As a blizzard swells just days before Christmas, the car belonging to the wife of a retired local judge is discovered abandoned on a rural road. After days without any leads, the search-and-rescue team has little hope of finding her alive, if at all.