After a loving married couple encounters an unsettling stranger, they find themselves with a corpse in their house as they prepare to leave for their annual couples' holiday with an inner circle of friends whose trustworthiness they must suddenly question.

"A novelist's longstanding marriage is suddenly upended when she overhears her husband giving his honest reaction to her latest book"--

Semi-retired policeman Henry Crabbe would rather be cooking than catching criminals. Unluckily for him, he happens to be good at both. His boss, Assistant Chief Constable Fisher doesn't want to lose him, and his accountant wife, Margaret, worries his new career as a restaurateur won't be financially viable. While indulging his culinary passions, Crabbe remains on call for those particularly tricky case that Fisher sends his way.

"After 25 years in the force, Detective Inspector Henry Crabbe has lost his appetite for the job. He plans to take early retirement and open his dream restaurant, Pie in the Sky. But his accountant wife, Margaret, doesn't think the numbers add up. And his boss, ACC Fisher needs him around to handle those delicate cases at which he excels. Although craving retirement, Crabbe discovers that crime solving can be just as hard to resist as his signature...

John Whittaker is a young Englishman who falls madly in love with Larita, a sexy, glamorous American woman. The two impulsively decide to get married. He takes her home to meet his family, she arrives like a blast from the future. John's mother takes an instant disliking to Lairta and undermines her every move. But Larita will blow their entrenched British stuffiness right out the window.