Recently widowed and rendered penniless by her Ponzi-scheming husband, Julia Bishop is eager to start anew. So when a stranger appears on her doorstep with a job offer, she finds herself accepting the mysterious yet unique position: caretaker to his mother, Amaris Sinclair, the famous and rather eccentric horror novelist whom Julia has always admired . . . and who the world believes is dead.
Revd Francis Oughterard is in the grip of a blackmailer and under orders to steal a valuable figurine. Relief at success is short-lived when the theft backfires, and further skulduggery ensues. The Reverend’s efforts to distance himself from yet another murder lead to embarrassing complications for him and his pompous bishop, Horace Clinker. When things come to a head in the form of crazily menacing Victor Crumpemeyer, it is once again up to the Reverend’s world-weary cat, Maurice, and intrepid mongrel, Bouncer, to save his bacon.
