In the village of Steynham St Michael, the old Strict and Particular Chapel is, at last, undergoing renovation, to the delight of the locals, who believe it will prove useful as a tourist attraction. The renovations have however been dogged by the sightings of mysterious hooded figures ...The newly-decorated interior is then found defaced by a mysterious message in red paint, which prompts a call to the police. DI Falconer and DS Carmichael of the Market Darley CID make an initial visit, and believe that the unexplained events at the Chapel may be the work of a cult. When a new DC arrives on secondment, Falconer immediately sends him on an undercover fact-finding mission, while spending his own time trying to lay his hands on a local drug dealer. Then a body is found in the chapel, and events begin to spiral out of control ...Strict and Peculiar is the seventh instalment in Andrea Frazer's Falconer Files, a detective series chock-full of picture-postcard villages, dastardly deeds, and a delightful slice of humour.