Fifteen years ago, a murder-suicide in room 712 rocked the grand old Bellweather Hotel and the young bridesmaid who witnessed it, Minnie Graves. Now hundreds of high school musicians, including quiet bassoonist Rabbit Hatmaker and his brassy diva twin, Alice, have gathered in its cavernous, crumbling halls for the annual Statewide Festival; Minnie has returned to face her demons; and a colossal snowstorm is threatening to trap them all in the hotel....

It starts as a prank -- a way to blow off steam after a long summer at Camp Horseshoe. Among the teen counselors, tensions and hormones are running high. No wonder the others agree when Jo-Beth Chancellor suggests they scare Monica O'Neal a little--or a lot. Monica has it coming, and no one will really get hurt. What could go wrong? Twenty years later, Lucas Dalton, a senior detective with the sheriff's department, is investigating the discovery of...