Bookseller and New-Yorker-to-the-bone, Bernie Rhodenbarr rarely ventures out of Manhattan-but he's excited about the romantic getaway he has planned for himself and current lady love Lettice at the Cuttleford House, a remote upstate b&b. Unfortunately, Lettice has a prior engagement-she's getting married...and not Bernie-so he decides to take best buddy Carolyn instead. A restful respite from the big city's bustle would be too good to waste. Besides, thre's a very valauble first ediction shelved in the Cuttleford's library that Bernie's just itching to get his hands on. Did we neglect to mention that Bernie's a burglar. But first he's got to get around a very dead body on the library floor. The plot's thickened by an isolating snowstrom, downed phone lines, the surprise arrival of Lettice and her reprehensible new hubby, and a steadily increasing corpse count. And it's Bernie who'll have to figure out whodunit...or die.