The sleepy village of Middlehope is suddenly jerked into life by nouveau riche antiques magnate Arthur Rainbow. In a whirlwind of activity he extravagantly refurbishes the Manor House, joins the Golf Club, Angling Society and Arts Council—and, in a ruthless coup, dislodges the old church organist to take over the position himself.
But for all his reforming zeal, the Middlehope community rejects him. ‘He won’t do, you know’, is the villagers’ judgement, an opinion spearheaded by Miss de la Pole, the local aristocrat. And when Rainbow’s crushed body is found in the graveyard of St Eata’s church, there is very little surprise or sorrow—but much speculation as to who the murderer could be.
After all, there are so many candidates—from his young, beautiful, flirtatious wife to the usurped organist and his mutinous choir. It falls upon Superintendent George Felse, newly promoted head of the Midshire CID, to solve this most perplexing murder.