Detective Inspector Henry Crabbe is a long-serving police officer in the fictional county of Westershire. Although very much his own man and an independent thinker, he is not a maverick, nor has he any particular neuroses; indeed, Crabbe is a highly intelligent, gentle and thoughtful man of high moral principle. On the other hand, he does have one passion in life: food. He dreams of retiring from the police to run his own restaurant serving good English fare. However, since he is the most outstanding detective in his department, his superiors – in particular Assistant Chief Constable Freddie Fisher – are reluctant to allow him to leave.