When Simon Dyers was commissioned to design a museum exhibition in the sleepy market town of Gilchester, he had expected a few weeks of relaxing work, away from the frenetic chaos of London, his main worry being to convince the Museum's board of directors that his ideas were what they needed. He didn't expect to have to compete with the brutal murder of the local vicar.

When a second murder is discovered, it is a 'wake up' call that puts Gilchester 'on the map' in quite a different way from what they could expect from Simon's new exhibition. And Simon's American girlfriend doesn't exactly help matters by deciding to turn amateur detective And it is not too long before body No.3 turns up, accompanied by shrieks of 'Serial Killer!' from the tabloid press