Author Robert Engelbart is slowly finding his feet in the picturesque village of Dapple Dyke. Away from the smoke and grime of London, he is learning to love the rolling hills; the clean, fresh air; and the river that meanders through the valley. Although the cottage he inherited from his late Aunt Edith still feels as if it belongs to the woman he had spent time with as a child during the blitz over 25 years earlier.

After a long period of writer's block, he had actually gotten busy with the Imperial typewriter, and to his own amazement, he now has a new book out, and as far as Robert is concerned, that is the end of the matter - that is, until his agent insists he attends the Tapmore Literary Festival to mix with the great and the good.

At first, Robert is less than keen to attend. And then he has one of those rare eureka moments and comes up with a plan - a plan that includes asking Fay Buckleberry, local baker of all things delicious and the love of his life, to be his guest at the festival.

Fay had never attended a literary festival before, and the truth is, neither had Robert. Within hours of arriving at The Grand, they find themselves embroiled in a world of spite and lies, a world of shark-like literary agents hunting for new authors and backstabbing one another for all they are worth.

When the body of one of the agents is found, Robert finds himself under suspicion, with enemies determined to see him pay. He has to unravel the web of deceit and slow-burning hatred, not only to save himself from spending the rest of his days behind bars, but others as well.