Written in first person, Closed for the Season begins with thirteen-year-old Logan Forbes moving into an old run-down house with his parents. Upon arriving at the Victorian house, they discover that the home is in a state of ruin. Despite Logan’s complaining, his parents try to encourage him to give the house a chance, to “wait till it’s painted and the lawn’s cut” (5). Logan is unconvinced but soon sees a friendly black dog on the front step. They discover from a young twelve-year-old boy named Arthur Jenkins that the dog is part Rottweiler and Labrador. The dog’s name is Bear and he now belongs to Arthur and his Grandmother, the Forbeses’ new neighbors.

Arthur is extremely talkative, and Logan desperately wants a way out of the conversation. His parents do not call him into the house, however, and Arthur tells him about Oak View Middle School. Arthur remarks on the size of the Forbeses’ television, and finally, tells Logan about the murder that occurred in the Forbeses’ new house. Logan discovers that Mrs. Donaldson, the former tenant, was murdered in the house. According to Arthur, Bear came to their house in the middle of the night, bleeding and wounded.