The corpse was snoring softly behind the sofa.

It is early November and the Wynmouth Fire Festival is in full flow. A dozen or more giant statues are about to be put to the torch. The locals jokingly refer to it as "the Bonfire Night Massacre". Fireworks and bonfires are the order of the day, and Simon Turing is looking forward to seeing the display.

He is in town performing at a local theatre, a revival of a fifties mystery play. All is not well at the venue, however. The theatre is in financial trouble and there are tensions backstage. The management needs a good box office if the theatre is to survive the winter. Luckily, the fire festival is a significant draw to the town. But when the theatre's own contribution to the festivities erupts into flames a couple of days earlier than planned, it does not bode well for the rest of the run.