Death by Aloe-Seed — Julius Falconer

Expertly edited for modern readers, this second chronicle of the doings of the vicar of Sherburn draws the reader cosily into eighteenth-century village life where medicine is primitive, travel arduous and time-consuming, curses feared and officers of the law less than eager to pursue their functions. Time: the autumn of 1728. Place: the usually tranquil Yorkshire village of Sherburn in Elmete. Except that it finds itself the scene of an increasingly sinister chain of events: theft, robbery on the king's highway, arson. And finally murder. The hapless vicar reluctantly takes on the investigation. In between all his other duties, he skitters about in pursuit of a one-eared footpad, a scarred man and an elusive pedlar, is arrested and tried for theft, thwarts a plot to murder the local miller and confronts a villainous highwayman - all, apparently, to no purpose. Until the penny drops. Hilarious.