Newly returned from investigating a sordid murder in Monkslip-super-Mare, handsome spy-turned-cleric Max Tudor wants nothing more than to settle back into his predictable routine as vicar of St. Edwold's Church in the tiny village of Nether Monkslip. But the flow of his sermon on Bathsheba is interrupted when the lady of the local manor house is found in a suicide pact with her young lover. Lady Duxter's husband rallies quickly from the double tragedy-too quickly, it is murmured in the village. But Max reminds his parishioners that grief can take many forms. Lord Duxter has already offered his manor house to a motley crew of writers, including Max's wife Awena, for his Wooten Priory Writers' Retreat. He insists the show must go on. But when a young girl goes missing and a crime writer who needed to be taken down a few notches becomes a target, DCI Cotton asks Max to lend his MI5 expertise to the investigation, for it is felt murder might be a notch too far. Max begins to wonder: Was the attack on the writer only part of a broader conspiracy of silence? And how many more might die before Max can solve the mystery? Agatha Award-winning author G. M. Malliet continues to captivate cozy fans and Agatha Christie devotees with her witty and endearing mysteries. Max's intriguing investigation into the goings-on in Prior's Wood is no exception.