The mayors of Causton and Brighton have agreed a deal for Causton to buy a plot of land in Brighton for the less fortunate of its residents. However Lady Matilda William, a very powerful lady who owns most of her village and is Head of the Finance Committee, strongly opposes the deal. Barnaby is convinced the deal will benefit Causton’s mayor more than its residents and so digs a little deeper, involving his cousin John Barnaby, the DCI in Brighton. When local business man Hugh Dalgleish is decapitated on a trip to Brighton, Barnaby finds himself investigating much more than dodgy deals.