A story of murder and ghostly hauntings in a cosy 1950s England that is no more.

When a mysterious middle-aged woman moves in next door to St Stephen’s vicarage, she is immediately taken under the wing of Nancy Harper, the Reverend Bernard Paltoquet’s redoubtable housekeeper. As the relationship between the two women develops, however, ‘Mrs Aitch’ begins to entertain suspicions that her new neighbour is not all she seems. Bernard and his friend Dr Robbie MacTavish also begin to think she has a dark secret.

Another stranger to the world of the St Stephen’s vicar comes in the shape of a freakish little man with strange powers which he uses to help Bernard and his friends with their various problems. Other complications ensue, culminating in the brutal slaying of a man on the eve of his wedding and an Old Bailey murder trial. But is the verdict safe?