Humble farm worker Wilfred Hubbard just happened to die on the one day his death wouldn't be noticed. That was enough to raise the suspicions of the police in the Cotswold market town, but it was only the start. A thief, a charlatan and a runaway wife all play their parts as clock repairer Jacob Silver and his wife Sarah join the police in trying to work out why Hubbard died and why a field where nothing grows well has suddenly become a valuable piece of land.

'Cream of the Crop' is the 19th novel in the Silver and Simm Victorian Mysteries series.