Having had his retirement snatched from him by malfunctioning technology, Peter 'Mad Max' Maxwell finds himself facing yet another new year at Leighford High School. After having her hopes of a dedicated house-husband dashed, his wife, Jacquie, is further annoyed when a family holiday quickly becomes an impromptu Year Seven trip to the Isle of Wight, families welcome. Less than a week into their trip the situation takes another turn for the worse when the wife of Tom Medlicott, the new Head of Art, goes missing, forcing Jacquie to play the role of woman policeman. Back in Hampshire, when Medlicott himself is found dead at the bottom of the stairs Henry Hall is also drawn into the investigation, but with the man's entire family lying at the bottom of the morgue, his suspect list is non-existent. Then Maxwell stumbles by accident on the linchpin to the whole case. He knows the reason; all he has to find is the murderer. And to find him - or her - he will have to cross more than the Solent. With the answer lying in a missing piece of paper, divorces and deceit, will Maxwell survive to apply for retirement again?