Successful property investor and professional curmudgeon, Martin Cranshaw, has had yet another bad day at the office. The problem is that his appalling driving on the way home reflects it and after entering a roundabout too fast and without due care and attention, he finds himself very seriously dead.

His second dilemma is that those charged with what to do with him in the Afterlife are stuck for an answer. However, after some serious deliberation, it is agreed that he can return to earth, albeit in someone else's body, where it is hoped he will use the almost unique opportunity to redeem himself.

This is where, in Martin's case, theory and actuality do not always happily coincide and the ill-starred victim of both his own temperament and unforeseen circumstances, will find him taking a journey of many lifetimes in his personal quest for forgiveness, love, and eventually, the one goal we all strive for – happiness.