The police investigate the murder of Richard Tanner who was stabbed and found dead in the model village in Little Worthy tied to the ground like Gulliver from Gulliver's Travels. He was found by the grounds-keeper and model maker Ben Moss who has worked for the owners, sisters Hillary and Harriet Comptom. Tanner wasn't very well liked in the village and was viewed as a troublemaker by many. He was known to have had romantic entanglements with the local school teacher Rebecca Rix and Krista Palfrey, daughter of the local hotel owner Edward Palfrey. He wasn't very pleased with his daughter's relationship Tanner and he didn't like the way Krista treated his girlfriend, Berrnice, leading to a tension-filled home situation. At the annual silly boat race to mark the end of the tourist season, another person is killed and later still there is a third victim. There is clearly someone in the village who is out for revenge.