Eccentric Alice Meddlar, Bassett's neighbor near the tiny village of Bletch Heath, has been known to run unwanted visitors off her land at the end of a shotgun, and her simpleton son, Robby is rumored to be a "mad bugger." So when a yellow Datsun is reported suspiciously abandoned near their woodland property, speculation runs rampant in the village, and Bassett is once more called upon to leave his beloved home and chickens and take his golden retriever along to investigate. When the corpse of the car's owner is discovered neatly buried in the nearby woods, suspicion naturally falls on Robby but Bassett isn't convinced. Who among the "newcomers" to Bletch Heath, he wonders, could have wanted the Datsun's owner dead? What lethal secrets might the murderer be trying to hide?