Enjoying an overdue break in Venice, the Bishop of Rhyminster has a chance encounter with Oliver Canford; a flamboyant tour guide, staying at the same hotel who grew up in a vicarage and read Theology at Cambridge. Despite misgivings from his wife, Bishop Bob offers him the post of Bishop's Lay assistant.

But Canford neglects his duties in favour of flirting with the Chorister Mums, pursuing eligible widows around Cathedral Close and disappearing to London to sing with his refined choir. When one of his absences extends to 48 hours, the Bishop worries. He calls in his old friend John Tedesco, who runs a bespoke detective agency with his colleague Lynne Davey.

When a body is discovered in the Rhyme Chantry, a forbidding structure known as the Cage, the tiny tourist city is thrust under the media spotlight, suspicion falling on a leading member of the Cathedral staff.

Join Tedesco and Davey as they encounter a byzantine world of rival voluntary groups, hard pressed clergy and warring choral societies. Can they cut through the confusion and solve the mystery of The Cage before DCI Bloomfield jumps to the wrong conclusion?