Excitement was running high in the small East Anglian town of Twytching. The local radio station had arrived to make a documentary on the place, and Mrs. Withens, wife of the council chairman, was determined the Twytching should show itself in the best possible light. This was no easy task, what with the Reverend Tamville-Bence conducting exorcisms, and Mrs. Buller’s voluptuous unmarried daughter clearly expecting, and handsome schoolmaster Jack Edgar making eyes at the flamboyant assistant producer. And the elegant Alison Mailer, like all the other ladies in the town, was using every wile to get on to the air.

But when violent death tarnished Twytching’s smug image, it was left to Detective Inspector George Parrish to search behind the respectable façade and discover the killer.