In a moment of weakness famous cookery writer Hilary Smallwood has given her unscrupulous nephew Colin a Power of Attorney. He has sold her house and put her into a retirement home; now he is trying to steal her recently written memoirs. Hilary calls on Henry Crabbe and her lifelong friend Seymour to help. Meantime there is friction behind the scenes in the restaurant between Steve and John.

The man who shot PC Ian Lefebvre is due for release so Fisher wants to keep Lefebvre busy. What better than sending him off with Crabbe in search of two OAP con-women and the perfect bread and butter pudding?

There's a spate of burglaries, the local police station's closed down and the great and good of Middleton, headed by Mr. Chukky Chicken' Barry Wilkes, want Crabbe to catch the thief, popularly believed to be teenager Karl Elves or 'Pikey'. To their dismay, Crabbe is much more interested in pike than 'Pikey'.

Charles Rider, a wine-loving regular at Pie in the Sky, is being threatened. It turns out he is really Joseph Webb, an ex-burglar turned supergrass, and now in witness protection. His collection includes many valuable bottles of wine, some of them stolen property and formerly owned by a bent policeman. His cronies have tracked Webb down and want the most priceless bottle back. So Rider comes to Henry Crabbe for help. Can Crabbe restore justice while keeping his friend safe?