Margaret Rudley has finally persuaded her husband Trevor to take a vacation, a week-long canoeing expedition in Northern Ontario. Rudley hates the idea of leaving the Pleasant, the beautiful old country inn they've run for over a quarter of a century, but he is reluctant to deny her a cherished dream. They set off, accompanied by long-time guests Elizabeth Miller, Edward Simpson, Norman and Geraldine Phipps-Walker, and a pair of neophytes, Vern Peters and Eric Turnbull. They leave the Pleasant and a few regular guests, including the Sawchucks and their incorrigible eight-year-old grandchildren, Ned and Nora, in the capable hands of Melba Millotte.

In their absence, chaos reigns at the Pleasant. A serial murderer is on the lam in cottage country. Ned and Nora disappear and a ransom note is received by the local paper. The laundryman's truck is stolen. Tiffany encounters an intruder in the kitchen in the wee hours of the morning. Detectives Brisbois and Creighton are on the scene to investigate these various crimes, including the appearance of a dead body in a ditch a few miles from the Pleasant and a guest of the inn with some strange habits.

While intrigue swirls around the Pleasant, the canoeists continue downriver, oblivious to the threat that lurks around the next bend. When Gil the guide and Vern Peters disappear, the lives of the group are in peril. Miss Miller and Norman must come through to save the day, but can they?