Professor, poet, and housesitter Lee Squires spent her childhood summers in Montana, and although she now lives in Washington, D.C., she takes off for the rough splendor of the West every chance she gets. Her most recent trips have been punctuated by murder, but that doesn't keep the amateur sleuth from filling in as a trail cook out west once more. Lee's friend Pete Bonsecours is an outfitter running llama pack treks in the Mission Mountains of Montana, and when his usual cook can't make the trip, Lee happily signs on to feed the tourists who are on the eco-friendly excursion up to Lost Pipe Lake. In addition to Lee and Pete, the group includes two young filmmakers working on a documentary; a travel agent interested in ecotourism; Charlie Herron, a wealthy Los Angeles developer, and his eight-year-old son; Pete's old friend and neighbor Eddie McNab; and Roland Redhawk, an environmental activist keeping an eye on Herron, who has plans to build a ski resort in the area. Even though the tour package didn't include murder, Lee turns to sleuthing when members of the group start dying at an alarming rate.