The Second World War is drawing to a close. Nicholas Vaughan, released from the army after an accident, takes refuge in Devon renting a thatched cottage in the beautiful contryside at Mallory Fitzjohn, Vaughan sets to work farming the land, rearing geese and renovating the land. On a nearby farm lives the bored, flirtatious June St Cyres, an exile from London while her husband is a Japanese POW. June's presence attracts fashionable and dubious characters. When Little Thatch is destroyed in a blaze, all Vaughan's work goes up in smoke and Inspector Macdonald is drafted in to uncover a motive for murder.