As he awaits his anticipated promotion, Police Constable Rhea continues his work on the Yorkshire moorland beat of Aidensfield, reminiscing about his childhood in a similar idyllic village, and making the inevitable comparisons. There is little doubt his rural upbringing helps him deal with the variety of incidents and people he encounters, such as a press photographer who gets lost while trying to locate a centenarian, a party of day-trippers who get imprisoned in a field, and a farmer whose vehicles smother the lanes with mud. There's a character who earns a good income without apparently working, and an entrepreneur who makes excellent use of raw material thrown away by others, while Claude Jeremiah Greengrass splashes out on a colourful new car, only to have a pop group make an offer he can't resist. Claude's new lorry is then stolen, the Beast of Aidensfield terrifies villagers by lurking in the darkness, and there are complaints of bare flesh being illegally exposed near the village. Constable Nick encounters psychic cows, ghostly racehorses and clever sheepdogs, as he deals with a hoard of silver in the thatched roof of a cottage and the disappearance of a lad who has gone to climb in the Himalayas. Then, should Nick spoil his family's Christmas Day by going to inspect an empty car in a field? And, how does he cope with a family who have acquired a little boy when no one knows who he is or where he's come from? It's all part of his duty for Constable Nick of Aidensfield.