Palmer Knutson, Sheriff of Otter Tail County, had just returned from visiting the land of his Viking ancestors. His hometown of Fergus Falls was quiet and peaceful, the crime rate was low, and the grandest place in the world in the summer is the lake country of Minnesota. One evening in August, he and his wife, Ellie, attended the gala opening of a new art exhibit at the Lake Region Arts Council. The world of art is habituated by people who are creative, clever, jealous, and witty-but murderous? In the course of the evening, a body was discovered, in rather gristly circumstances. It was apparent how the murder had been committed, but since all the doors and windows were locked from the inside, there appeared to be no way that the killer could have escaped. The case would turn out to be the most difficult, and by far the most dangerous, of Knutson's career.