Invited to give a talk on the Caroline poets by a local literary society in Dorset, Nigel Strangeways soon finds himself embroiled in a rather sinister chain of events. "And how is crime in these parts?" he asks, on his arrival, and there had been a slight, but unnecessary, pause after this flippant remark. Later, on meeting Eustace Bunnett the owner of the local brewery, Nigel is told the story of Truffles, the brewer's dog, who had been found drowned in one of the brewing coppers. Mr. Bunnett is convinced that the dog had been murdered and asks Nigel to investigate, despite the hefty fee demanded. The next day, however, it seems that Mr. Bunnett has gone the same way as his dog. This presents Nigel with a much more meaty problem to solve, the various twists and turns ending in an exciting vigil in the brewery which nearly results in a major disaster.
In 1932 Cecil and Mary Day-Lewis bought the freehold of Box Cottage at Charleton Kings, Gloucestershire. Living nearby was Teddy Hopcraft, descended from an old brewing family form Northamptonshire and manger of the Cheltenham Original Brewery. Cecil made several visits to the brewery which provided him with the setting for this novel. Apparently, Teddy's father had related an incident of a brewery worker falling into a copper vat.
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April 2008