DSS Mike Shepherd and DC Kristin Simms return to uncover more macabre goings on in the quaint, murder-ridden town of Brokenwood. Beneath the town's peaceful veneer are buried secrets, treacherous lies, and murderous rivalries.The black widower : The Frog and Cheetah publican, Ray Neilson, has branched into tourism with his 'Lord of the Ringz Tours.' But when Ray's wife is discovered dead under a giant foam spider, things get mirky. But when the cause of death is revealed to be from New Zealand's only native venomous spider - the Katipo - the question becomes how did one spider administer ten times the lethal dose?Over her dead body: Brokenwood is in mourning at the passing of local poet Declan O'Grady. But things go from sad and bad to worse when his coffin accidentally falls from the hearse revealing that the corpse inside is not Declan but a young woman identifiable only by a notable scarlet tattoo.The killing machine: Charlie Baxter, Chairman of the Classic Car Restoration Society, is found dead next to his beloved El Dorado with a lungful of gasoline. Was this a petrol siphoning accident or something more deliberate? And does his death have anything to do with the unidentified body found in Charlie's garage the day before?A merry bloody Christmas: Mike and his team find Santa Claus with his throat slit. Santa turns out to be the much-loved local Mayor. With elections looming, Mike's team turn their attentions towards the former Mayor's rivals.