Herbert Ungley wouldn't have been caught dead without his toupée. When a cat dragged it in, landlady Betsy Lomax knew something was amiss. She knew to call Professor Peter Shandy, whose success at sleuthing had surpassed his fame as 'Father of the world-renowned rutabaga', the "Balaclava Buster".

The 'Hercule Poirot' of the turnip fields finds himself knee-deep in unanswered questions: who was Herbert's heir? Where had his shockingly large bank account come from? Why was another body planted among the trees of Balaclava college? Would Peter be able to root out the killer?