From the book jacket:
It's Christmastime, and Police Constable Hamish Macbeth is suffering from a nasty bout of the flu. He would like to be taken care of, particularly by an attractive woman, and preferably by his former love, Priscilla Halburton-Smythe. But Priscilla-who has begun running a hotel in her family's stately home-is too busy looking after her guests to bathe Hamish's fevered brow.
When Priscilla's friend Jane Wetherby shows up for a surprise visit, Hamish's spirits begin to rise. Jane, the owner of "The Happy Wanderer" health farm, has been frightened by an astrologist's prediction of her imminent demise, and she offers Hamish free room and board during the holiday in exchange for his protection. Thinking that he has finally found a source of some tender, loving care, Hamish is tempted away from his sleepy Highland town of Lochdubh, and his beloved dog Towser, to the desolate Scottish isle of Eileencraig.
Unfortunately, the visit doesn't prove to be the holiday Hamish had hoped for. Windswept Eileencraig is inhabited by hostile islanders, more than a few of whom would gladly be rid of "The Happy Wanderer" and its proprietor. The company at the health farm is hardly better, for Jane's volatile party includes an ex-husband, an illicit lover, and Morag Todd, an unadulterated snob who criticizes just about everyone and everything.
