"Where there s fraud, there s murder."

A newly minted graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1890, Dr. Thomas Parks heads to the big timber country of Puget Sound to practice trauma medicine. An hour after stepping off the boat, he s nearly crushed to death by a less-than-surefooted mule and finds himself a patient rather than a physician. As he convalesces, he discovers that his host, a venerable physician friend of his father s, is running an elaborate medical scam, selling worthless concoctions nationwide, with enormous sales.

Besides doing his best to treat patients while he himself hobbles about with one functioning eye, one hand, and one leg, Dr. Thomas must decide whether to expose the old family friend. Things become even more complicated when his host s daughter, Alvi, falls in love with Thomas, for exposing the scam would destroy her father.

They re an unlikely couple: Lucky Smith, passionate environmentalist and old-time hippie, and Paul Keller, chief constable of Trafalgar, British Columbia. Their weekend getaway to a Scottish-inspired castle in the Rocky Mountains is a chance to explore their fledgling late-in-life relationship and indulge themselves at the famous Banff Springs Hotel.

Trouble interferes when Lucky, strong willed and sometimes too stubborn for her own good, stands up to two bullies in the local coffee shop. To his horror, Paul recognizes one of the young men as his estranged son, Matt.

In the early hours of the following morning, a frantic Matt calls his father for help. Lucky and Paul arrive to find a body on the apartment floor, but Matt has gone.

Matt Keller is an experienced wilderness adventurer. All signs indicate that he has escaped into the backcountry. To Sergeant Eddie Blechta of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, running is all the proof of guilt he needs. Paul Keller can do nothing but watch the investigation from a distance, terrified that Blechta is right.

Lucky s daughter, Constable Molly Smith of the Trafalgar City Police, abandons her chaotic Thanksgiving kitchen to offer her mom support. She has no intention of meddling in the police investigation, but she is as good in the wilderness as Matt, and when his sad, shy girlfriend asks for her help, Molly finds herself not only interfering but putting herself on the wrong side of Edward Blechta."