Brokenwood is in mourning as beloved local poet Declan O'Grady is being farewelled at St Judas Church after being struck down by cancer. But things go from 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.

Mike, Kristin and Breen set about unraveling a strange set of circumstances. The last to see Declan's body was the hapless funeral director Warren Bugle who leads them back to Wadsworth Manor where a mysterious role playing game was conducted the night before Declan's death. It turns out the tattooed woman may have been a player in what was to ultimately be her final game.

With December approaching Brokenwood is alive and well with Christmas spirit. That is until a gruesome sight confronts Mike and his team; Santa Claus with his throat slit. Or as Mike insists - 'not Santa, but a man dressed in a Santa suit'.

The man is in fact the much-loved local Mayor, Evan Whitestone, who dresses as Santa every year for the Christmas parade. But with local elections looming, attention turns to his four rivals for the mayoral chains. Each of them has an axe to grind with Evan or, in this case - a cut throat razor.