When Peter Harris arrives in Turnham Malpas as the new rector he finds the village people welcoming but set in their ways. Yet despite his own weaknesses & the sadness of his childless wife he comforts & advises his new parishioners growing more & more involved with the rural way of life. Then the whole village is rocked by spiteful trick that goes terribly wrong & a gruesome murder that points to a killer in its midst. Now more than ever Peters pastoral role is crucial
- & yet he is wrestling with his own private hell that may still wreck his own life.