When the death up at the big house is announced to the village of Compton Dando, few are surprised. Given that it's the home of an unlikely bunch of New Age oddballs, perhaps it was a only a matter of time before one of them came to a bad end. The verdict: an accident.

But only weeks later, another death is reported, and this time there's no doubt about it - it's murder. To Chief Inspector Barnaby, hurriedly summoned to the scene, it is immediately apparent that the case is far from straightforward, the suspects being among the most bizarre he has ever encountered...