Plot Summary:The Bleakridge village watch are a Draconian bunch, penalizing the pettiest of offences. Barnaby and Winter investigate when one of their number, butcher Angus Colton, is murdered whilst looking into a spate of burglaries and his sister-in-law, the fearsome Ingrid Loxton explains that the group was established after her brother was killed in an unsolved hit and run. Not everybody supports the watch, notably landlord Mitch McAllister, who is attacked and his pub vandalized and who is prime suspect when another member of the group is killed. When Ingrid relents by asking Barnaby to help catch the murderer he discovers not only a burned out car stolen two years earlier from café owners Barbara and Duncan Walton for the hit and run but the identities of the burglar, putting Ingrid in a bad light, and the driver - who has cause to silence those watch members likely to expose their own form of crime and punishment.
The Bleakridge Watch patrols the streets of their remote village, exposing anyone who steps outside the law. When one of their members dies, DCI Barnaby and DS Winter uncover just how far some people will go for power.