Ken has moved to Nottingham and has set up Boon Investigations, operating out of a small office near the Castle. His first case involves him being employed by Gerry Anscomb, manager of a local radio station, Sherwood Sound. He wants Ken to act as minder for Eddie Cotton, ""The Man You Love To Hate"", a brash loud-mouthed young DJ who has a habit of turning up for work drunk... or not even turning up at all. They want to make sure he will not let them down at a Charity Telethon this coming weekend. Eddie gives Ken chance to plug Boon Investigations on the radio.
Ken is approached by Marion Kershaw who is looking for her missing husband, Geoff, who is in ""the import/export business"". Ken soon discovers that Geoff Kershaw owes money to the taxman. At the squash court that Kershaw uses, Ken finds a holdall containing a large amount of cash, a false passport and a gun.
At the Magistrates Court, the renewal of a gaming licence for the Carrington Club run by Dick Vaughan, is postponed pending further enquiries after a punter in the public gallery alleges that he was cheated by Vaughan. Vaughan does not realise that the ""punter"" is really Rupert Cole, who runs a rival gambling club. Vaughan gets Ken to investigate - if any of his croupiers are cheating, he wants to know before the Gaming Board investigators call on him. Ken spends the evening at the Carrington but sees nothing unusual so he asks Helen to come with him the following night. She soon notices that Jackie, one of the blackjack croupiers, is cheating. Ken pretends to be a writer, researching a university psychology textbook on gambling, in order to gain Jackie's confidence. He challenges her and she admits that she has been persuaded by Cole to cheat and to make sure that she is caught, so that the Carrington will be blamed and will lose its gaming licence. Ken has one of his famous conflicts
A middle-aged couple, Terry and Gill Conroy, driving an expensive Jaguar, break down in a residential street, outside the house owned by George and Irene Boxall. The Boxalls offer them a cup of tea while the Conroys wait for the breakdown truck to arrive. In recompense, Terry Conroy invites the Boxalls to join them at a Tyrolean night.
Robert Messener employs Ken to act as his bodyguard and chauffeur, and to run various errands associated with the sale of his house and his nightclub, in preparation for a hasty departure to Cyprus. Messener's previous minder, Freddy Tucker, had walked out on him after being beaten up.
Ken and Harry are guarding Tinkerbell, a greyhound, at Woodcote Park, before her big race. The owner, Mr Hancock, insists that Tinkerbell must be fed ""Mr Marrow"" dog food and a detailed record must be kept of how much of it she eats. Harry gets Rocky to feed and walk the dog, and it soon becomes clear that Tinkerbell hates ""Mr Marrow"". An attractive blonde woman turns up at Woodcote, delivering cases of wine in a Range Rover. While Harry and Rocky are helping to unload the wine, she drives off with Tinkerbell. Harry and Rocky try to trace the owner of the Ranger Rover. Then Rocky has an idea: there is going to be a charity event before the greyhound race - perhaps the dog thieves will be there. They locate the car and follow it back to an opulent house owned by a Mr and Mrs Hipkiss who claim to own Tinkerbell. Mr Hipkiss tells them that Hancock used to work for him but wasn't up to the job. Hipkiss believes that Hancock had stolen Tinkerbell in revenge for (as he sees it) being sacked
Ken is employed by the owners of a nursing home to investigate a series of petty thefts of patients' money. Because of pressure of work, he passes the case to Harry who goes to stay at the nursing home, posing as a businessman suffering from stress and a nervous breakdown. Laura also helps, posing as Harry's gushing and utterly spoilt daughter! After eliminating the cleaner and the gardener, Harry soon suspects Mary Foster, an eccentric old lady who is a long-term patient. He marks a wad of 5 notes and leaves them in his bedside drawer. They soon disappear and Harry finds them in Mary's handbag. He presents his findings to the Matron, telling her that he has traced the thief. Much to his surprise, the Matron herself confesses to the thefts. She has been taking the money to give to Mary, in order to perpetuate a white lie - Mary thinks that her son, living in New Zealand, is paying for little treats on her birthday, whereas in fact the son died two years ago and the Matron hasn't the he
Mr and Mrs Sheridan, parents of Isobel, a university student studying Art History, ask Ken to investigate why their daughter has changed and why she suddenly seems to be suspiciously wealthy. Ken talks to her former boyfriend, Geoff, and learns that she used to be very keen on rowing but then suddenly gave it up a year ago and now has a new set of friends.
As he is driving along a country lane towards Woodcote Park, Harry sees a racing cyclist being harassed by a souped-up car. The cyclist, Ian, turns out to be Helen's nephew. He is staying at Woodcote Park while he trains for a road-race through the centre of Nottingham. Greg Simpson, the manager of a racing team, is pressuring Ian to leave his present team and to join Greg's. He threatens to publish a letter which proves that Ian once conspired to fix the result of a race by letting a friend win. Harry uncovers proof that Greg's soignier (team doctor) is prescribing drugs to addicts; this would not go down too well with the sponsors of Greg's team, a health-food company. Faced with a clear case of stalemate, Greg realises that he cannot win and backs down.
The Bisons, a secret society similar to the Freemasons, is holding its meeting at Woodcote Park. Large amounts of alcohol are consumed. On the way home, one of the Bisons, Derek Donaghue, is stopped for drink-driving.
Helen is hosting a party for Argentinian polo players at Woodcote Park. She falls for Raoul Gomez, a suave Argentinian. Aiden Curtis, the husband of one of the English guests, asks Ken to watch his wife Merrily (!) who is ""terribly easily influenced"", meaning that he knows every man in the room fancies her and that he thinks she is having an affair. Ken follows her and uncovers a conspiracy between her, a local vet, David Rennet, and one of the Argentinian polo players, Celestino da Silva. Merrily's horse, Deauville Dancer, is infertile but Rennet has signed a certificate stating that it is in perfect health. She ""sells"" the horse to da Silva, thus establishing its value so that the insurance company will pay out when, six months from now, Rennet ""has no choice"" but to have it destroyed. She arranges to return da Silva's money when the insurance company pays up, but instead she leaves him as the owner of an infertile horse and disappears by plane with his money, accompanied by another
Ken is employed by Amelia Woods, a secretary at a local meat-processing factory, to investigate why various dictation tapes and letters go missing from the office and then re-appear a few days later. He soon learns from Bert and Joe, two of the drivers, that there is something very suspicious about the firm - strange late-night deliveries from Amsterdam that don't go through the books and are treated differently from the rest of the stock. And it seems that the owner, Mr Sandford, and his son-in-law, Trevor, are involved.
Harry is making plans to sell his stake in Woodcote Park because it is losing money. He is thinking of buying ""Hugo's"", a nightclub and disco, but is warned off by a ruthless Scottish businessman, Vic Carpenter, who also wants to buy it. Eventually Harry and Helen sell Woodcote so it can be turned into timeshare apartments.