Or so he thought. It turns out the residents of Lilbury, home to Dorset's last affordable quaint country cottage, want to know about the novelist from the big city. Everyone seems interested, from the Lady of the Manor to the surly handyman with bright red hair and impressive shoulders.
But soon that neighbourly attention turns deadly when a body turns up on a cold winter's morning and Arden becomes the local police's lead suspect.
How does he clear his name? Who really committed the crime? And does the handsome local handyman accept different kinds of payment?