Reverend Septimus Treloar, retired as Chief Inspector of the CID after thirty years service, is now country parson of the seemingly sleepy St. Mary's Danedyke. But the rural calm of his and the villagers' lives are thrown into chaos when mysterious happenings cause them to suspect the haunting of a fabled ghost within the dark recesses of their church. But can this really be a case of supernatural spirits? Or are Septimus's suspicions of thieving mischief closer to the truth? If so, what could be the object of all this criminal plotting? Septimus must use his detective know-how to find the answers on a mission that will lead him to the secret of The Danedyke Cup, a silver gilt relic supposedly once belonging to Our Lady...The first in Stephen Chance's classic series about Reverend Septimus, 'the one and only beatified bobby,' Septimus and the Danedyke Mystery (1971) has everything: treasure hunts, ancient clues, rollicking humour and quick-witted suspense. It has been described by Philip Ardagh in the Guardian as 'truly marvellous.'