Comedy following tactless middle-class dad Martin Fishback as he decides to become a successful novelist, having being made redundant after 25 years in the toothpaste industry. Put on the spot by an incompetent police officer, Martin settles on writing a detective crime thriller and heads into his home town of Exeter, AKA the crime capital of east Devon, for inspiration.

Meanwhile, Martin's son Marcus returns home from university to introduce his girlfriend to his parents. The socially inept Martin is keen to impress with his writing, and what would have just been a typically awkward family dinner descends into drama worthy of any award-winning detective novel.