Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat - and all over England rehearsals are getting underway for the much-loved seasonal panto. In Miss Emily Seeton's home village of Plummergen, Lady Colveden is directing an uproarious production of Cinderella, and Miss S is delighted to be offered a backstage role as set designer.
Then while walking in Rytham Hall woods in search of mistletoe, a typical accident with her umbrella results in a wonderful archaeological discovery - soon followed by the less happy discovery of a dead body.
The solutions to the murder and to a series of local bank heists are only revealed when the show actually goes on - and naturally it's the "Battling Brolly" who ends up in the spotlight.
Serene amidst every kind of skulduggery, this eccentric English spinster steps in where Scotland Yard stumbles, armed with nothing more than her sketchpad and umbrella