Clive's decision to send his eight-year-old son Robert away to boarding school marks the end of the idyllic relationship enjoyed by Robert and his mother Rose, and precipitates a crisis in the marriage. Clive has had his own way for far too long. It is time for the worm to turn, and who better to comfort Rose than her bellringer colleague, Simon?

Meanwhile, the peaceful village of St Martin on the Hill is about to suffer its own crisis. Robert goes missing, and when an unpopular farmer is found dead in mysterious circumstances, Rector Reverend Jeremy Swanson is involved in the investigation. Who can he possibly suspect of kidnapping and murder?