Richard Coles

It's been a few months since murder tore apart the community of Champton apart. As Canon Daniel Clement tries to steady his flock, the parish is joined with Upper and Lower Badsaddle, bringing a new tide of unwanted change. But church politics soon become the least of Daniel's problems.

His mother - headstrong, fearless Audrey - is obviously up to something, something she is determined to keep from him. And she is not the only one. And then all hell breaks loose when murder returns to Champton in the form of a shocking ritualistic killing...

It's spring 1990, and in Champton the whole village is aflutter as a glamorous Hollywood movie has taken over Lord de Floures' Champton House as its set location.

As the actors and extras hired from the village don their farthingales, gowns and crowns for a masque set in the 1600s, a murder interrupts filming on set - and it's an ingenious one...

Can Daniel solve the mystery with help from his sidekick, Detective Sergeant Neil Vanloo - even when things are so sticky between them?

Book 4 in the Canon Clement series.

A parish priest in Northamptonshire; a former rock-star with The Communards; the regular host of BBC Radio 4's 'Saturday Live' - these three people are not usually embodied in one person. The Reverend Richard Coles' memoir offers his rich and personal insights into one of the most diverse of lives, encompassed with the wit and humour he brings to his popular radio show.

Canon Daniel Clement is Rector of Champton, where he lives alongside his widowed mother - opinionated, fearless, ever-so-slightly annoying Audrey - and his two dachshunds, Cosmo and Hilda. When Daniel announces a plan to install a lavatory in the church, the parish is suddenly (and unexpectedly) divided: as lines are drawn, long-buried secrets come dangerously close to destroying the apparent calm of the village.

And then Anthony Bowness - cousin to Bernard de Floures, patron of Champton - is found dead at the back of the church. As the police moves in and the bodies start piling up, Daniel is the only one who can try and keep his community together... and catch a killer.

It is Christmas Day and at Champton Rectory, Canon Daniel Clement and his mother Audrey are joined by the residents and guests of the big house to drink, eat and be merry.

At the festive feast, peace and goodwill prevail.

Until two meet under the mistletoe. One of them falls down dead. And Daniel suspects murder has returned to Champton...

Can Daniel and Detective Sergeant Neil Vanloo solve the crime and catch the Christmas killer?

Canon Daniel Clement has suffered a secret humiliation and to recover takes respite at the monastery where he was a novice. But the monastery doesn't allow the break he needs, for tensions are building there too. There is a death at the monastery, and Daniel thinks it might be murder.

Meanwhile back at Champton, Daniel is the subject of village gossip, his mother Audrey is up to something again, there's trouble at the dress shop, trouble up at the big house, and the puppies are running riot.

As dark secrets unfold, can Daniel solve the mystery at the monastery without the help of Detective Seargeant Neil Vanloo?