John Braemhor, retired former member of the Rhodesian constabulary, runs a B&B in Daraichburn in the Scottish lowlands with his wife, Mary. But the quiet life of innkeeper does not keep pace with his former, more dynamic investigative existence. The world of unique and fascinating crime puzzles continues to beckon him. And so when individuals begin vanishing from inside fairy circles under hawthorn trees, as foretold in ages old folktales, John and Mary travel to the Loch Ness region, to investigate these strange disappearances. Later the perplexing, worldwide phenomenon known as "the hum," a bizarre low frequency sound heard by very few people, causes them to enlist the assistance of Mary's eccentric aunt to unravel its origins. Beggar's Knob also claims their attention when an artist appears to be literally sucking the life out of the subjects of his paintings as he transfers their images onto canvas. Braemhor's superior knowledge of the history of crime leads to an understanding of the motives behind the criminal's actions. These and other adventures, including the use of hypnosis in crime and murder during a professional meeting, keep John and Mary Braemhor busy thwarting the criminal elements of their native Scotland and of a small college town across the pond in the Colonies.