Bone idle

The Reverend Francis Oughterard is the vicar of St Botolph's and genteel murderer of parishioner Mrs Elizabeth Fotherington. So far eluding arrest (but with fears of imminent exposure), he is in the grip of his blackmailing pal, the shady Nicholas Ingaza, who forces him to steal a valuable figurine of a prancing pig. Naturally the project backfires, plunging the hapless vicar into further skulduggery and leading to embarrassing complications for him and his pompous bishop, Horace Clinker. Once again it is up to the world-weary cat, Maurice and intrepid mongrel, Bouncer, to save the reverend's bacon.