When a frozen corpse is discovered in a fishing shack on a nearby lake, most residents of Parson's Cove assume the man succumbed to the blistery cold. However, after the body thaws, the coroner discovers that the man, one Victor Fleming, was actually beaten to death. Eye witnesses suggest that town bad boy Jakie Flanders was seen leaving the shack the night of the murder and was overheard threatening Fleming in town earlier. Add this to the fact that Victor Fleming was Jakie's mother's first cousin and was demanding money from her and Jakie's motives for murder were piling up. Jakie's mother Flori, a crier if there ever was one, is so devastated when her son is arrested that she is drained of all her tears. Only her best buddy and local amateur sleuth Mabel Wickles seems to have any faith that Jakie might be innocent. Mabel enlists the aid of her young computer friend, Nathan Horne, and the Sheriff, Reg Smee, in her attempt to clear Jakie and bring her friend Flori some relief. Soon, Mabel discovers a startling fact. The frozen body, whom everyone assumes is Victor Fleming--isn't. Did Jakie kill the wrong man, if he killed anyone at all? Or is there another reason for this corpse's frozen identity? Mabel will encounter many more clues before she puts this mystery on ice.