In the small Cape Cod village of Chatwich, the only time that the church bell rings outside of Sundays is to announce the death of one of the residents. Therefore, when the bell begins to ring in the middle of a weekday, the townspeople rush out to see what had happened only to discover a fire in the cupola of the town hall and the body of a woman as well. Their amazement turns to fear when scarcely an hour later the man who had sounded the alarm fell to his death from the church steeple housing the bell. Why had these two people been murdered? And, just as importantly, why had Abe Tucker's cow been killed? These are the questions that Percy Peacock, professor of psychology and part time actor finds himself trying to answer when . . .Death Rings a Bell