Something sinister is stirring at Totleigh Hall, the showcase manor house of the English village of Nether Monkslip. Usually, the owners are absent - high tax rates, it is murmured with more than a trace of envy, force them to live on the Continent for most of the year. But Lord and Lady Baaden-Boomethistle have been in residence for some weeks now, and the villagers are hoping for a return to the good old days when the lord of the manor sprinkled benefits across the village life fairy dust. Even Father Max Tudor hopes for an invitation to dine with the famous family who once held sway in the area. But before he has time to starch his clerical collar and organize a babysitter, a sudden and suspicious death intervenes, and the handsome vicar's talent for sorting clues to a murder in once again called into play.