In the picturesque village of Branscombe, New Hampshire, the townsfolk are all pitching in to prepare for the first annual Festival of Joy. Arriving for the festival, with hopes of an old-fashioned holiday in the country, are: private Investigator Regan Reilly and her husband Jack - head of the NYPD Major Case Squad; Regan's mother, the suspense writer Nora Regan Reilly, and her father Luke, the owner of several funeral homes in New Jersey; Alvirah Meehan - the lottery winner turned amateur sleuth; and Alvirah's husband Willy. With preparations for the festival in full swing, a group of employees at Branscombe's local market, who have recently been cheated of their Christmas bonus by their boss's new wife, learn that they have won $160 million in the mega-mega lottery. Acting on dubious advice from a pair of crooks masquerading as financial advisers, one of their co-workers, Duncan, decided at the last minute not to play. He goes missing, and the next day his girlfriend Flower disappears. A second winning lottery ticket was purchased in the next town, but the winner hasn't come forward. Could Duncan have secretly bought it?Alvirah, Regan and Jack are just the people to find out what is amiss. As they dig beneath the surface, they find that life in Branscombe is not as tranquil as it appears ...