Oliver (we never learn whether this is his first name or his surname) is a middle-aged lecturer in Comparative Religion, with a passion for trivia, crosswords and anagrams, and a very strange taste in jokes. Having been made redundant from the University of the Rhondda Valley, and with no family ties, he decides to set off on a quest to find "Aristotle", a setter of crosswords. He soon teams up with WPC Diane Priest, who has just been suspended from the police force because she has been asking too many questions about a local murder that seems to implicate the Chief Constable. Pursued by Baxter ("the man with no name"), Oliver and Diane visit Shrewsbury, North Yorkshire, Durham, Hadrian's Wall and Kirkleven (in the Scottish highlands) on their journey to find "Aristotle" in the Orkney Isles. Along the way they uncover a major scandal centred around a property company. The laconic humour and the laid-back style are similar in many ways to _"Beiderbecke Affair, The" (1985) (mini)_ , _Beiderbecke Tapes, The (1987) (TV)_ and _"Beiderbecke Connection, The" (1988) (mini)_ (also by Alan Plater), but with the added pleasure of word puzzles like those in Colin Dexter's "Inspector Morse" books.

Oliver:
In the great galaxy of education: it was the best of terms, it was the worst of terms. My travels began once upon a time in the Rhondda Valley. I got up, washed, showered and shaved, ate my bran, checked the crossword, and went to work. As it turned out, I might have been better advised to stay at home. It depends on how you feel about murder, corruption, and organized crime. I have always been against them. On the other hand, I have always been in favor of love. A tricky little conundrum, and very like life.