In the village of Lavister Alastair Southery, locum to Dr Lathbury, discovers a fantastic set-up involving an assortment of astonishing characters. Dr Lathbury has become ill with the same unexplained disease that killed his partner, and the village is still agog with the recent murder of his eldest son Paul.

When the doctor dies, Southery sets out to prove his hunch that there is a connection between his death and the two previous ones.