It begins for Basil ' Banger' Peyton-Crumbe the day he dies in a pheasant-shooting incident. A tragic accident thinks the local constable but Banger's gundogs & Buck the police dog exhibiting a level of intelligence vastly superior to that of their owners suspect murder. & for Basil proud slayer of over 41 000 birds with the cheap old 12-bore he's had since childhood things go from bad to very bad.