A horror-suspense story with a touch of comedy and a generous dose of the supernatural. Midport: a charming if depressed small town in the Adirondacks. Helen Clayton, the English widow of a town native, spends the summer there in order to sell the family estate. Next door is a Gothic pile called Lake House, home of a reclusive old woman, Cecily Matthias (Miss Matty) and her companion Miss (Binnie) Binmore, formerly of Beacon Hill. As Helen moves to sell the Clayton place, people start dying suddenly and inexplicably, and for a while each death looks as though it is due to some natural cause or an accident. Who is killing and why and how can he or she be stopped? Despite her wish to stay aloof, Helen finds herself caught up in events and races to stop the killer before she herself dies a very nasty death.