Henry and Margaret spend a day at the races with her new client Bob Bishop, who is resisting a take-over bid for his cider brewery. A mysterious man shadows Henry and then the corpse of stable lad Ben Tucker is found in a horse-box. Bob's brother Tony owns the stables, which are failing, and he is very curt with Henry when he comes to investigate. On the night he died Ben had argued with another stable lad Jerry Lawless over female jockey Jude O'Brien but he too is murdered and Bob's daughter Liz, another jockey, is found in his caravan with a bag full of bank-notes.

Liz claims the money is winnings from a bet and Henry releases her but notes that Jerry too has a healthy bank balance and surmises he was trading inside information for cash. Tony apologizes to Henry but tries to push Bob into accepting the take-over and Henry's mystery man proves to be a private eye, since Tony has been fixing races and the Jockey Club have hired him to get proof. Henry believes Tony got Jerry to nobble his horses and killed Ben when he found out. He has the correct motive but the wrong suspect and it's Margaret who literally stumbles on the real killer and has a close call with them. Meanwhile Nicola is annoyed when a spoilt school-friend appears to be making a play for Gary, though she is actually trying to poach him for her restaurant - unsuccessfully.

The Chen family appear to be victims of racial harassment when their Chinese takeaway is set fire to but widowed Mr. Chen will not go to the police so his daughter Mei asks Henry for help, It turns out that Chen is a gambler deeply in debt to a restauranteur in London's Chinatown who has been has been threatening him for the money he owes. When Pie in the Sky makes it to the final of the Great British Grub contest being held in London, Henry uses the trip to visit Chinatown and act as go-between. A winner and a loser return to Middleton come the end of the day.

When Fisher allocates Henry to guard Sasha Wilkes,due to testify against her gangster husband, in the police 'safe house',D.C.I. Harding,who had expected the job,is resentful. Sasha is initially hostile but,won over by Henry's cooking,comes to confide in him. Harding uses a drug pusher called Vicky, who once knew Henderson, to discredit Henry and also discloses the safe house's location to Wilkes. Henry averts disaster and parts as friends with Sasha but wonders if they were used as bait by Fisher because he already suspected Harding.

The 'Happy Ploughman' food chain has won the franchise for the Police canteen, but is being subjected to deliberate vandalism. An obvious suspect is Flora McKee, a local baker who was not only rejected as a supplier to the firm, but was upset by improper advances made to her by its manager, Geoff Reece. Spurred on by Fisher, Henry tracks down the culprit and solves an old mystery into the bargain.

An armed hold-up at 'Pie in the Sky' while jewel-rich Mrs. Burdett is present brings DS Stringer to investigate. His abrasive manner alienates all the restaurant staff, including the normally placid Henry. He accuses first Gary, then Nicola and her new boy friend Paul of passing on the information regarding the Burdetts' booking to the thieves. But Henry's judicious questioning of the victim brings the solution, in time for Gary to celebrate two years of sobriety.

The restaurant is heavily in debt, and the Crabbe's new bank manager is unsympathetic. Steve and John have left for pastures new, and an agency chef is unsatisfactory. Crabbe learns that Dudley Hooperman is dead, and resurrects his hopes of early retirement. Meantime there is a surveillance operation to be run on a dodgy pizza delivery business.

Henry supplies the catering at his friend Alistair's pheasant shoot, where Fisher is among the guests. Another member of the party is shot and killed and it looks as if Fisher accidentally shot him but Henry's investigation reveals a crime of passion involving a love triangle, a jealous husband - and a cover-up.

The large family of much-married Irishwoman Kit Kelly book the restaurant for a wedding banquet for her and her new husband, American television writer Byron De Goris. Byron's briefcase is stolen from his hotel and Henry is suspicious of his reaction and even more so when Margaret tells him that the groom is not Byron De Goris but his friend James Jackson. Margaret had known them both thirty years earlier and discovers that Byron killed himself and James assumed his identity. Henry has to find out why.

Charles Rider, a wine-loving regular at Pie in the Sky, is being threatened. It turns out he is really Joseph Webb, an ex-burglar turned supergrass, and now in witness protection. His collection includes many valuable bottles of wine, some of them stolen property and formerly owned by a bent policeman. His cronies have tracked Webb down and want the most priceless bottle back. So Rider comes to Henry Crabbe for help. Can Crabbe restore justice while keeping his friend safe?

Di Crabbe and DS Cambridge are assigned to investigate a spate of garden thefts carried out while the owners are away for a few days. It's not just a few plants that are being stolen - whole gardens are being stripped. The only person appearing to benefit is landscape designer Alan Wellbeloved, who becomes the prime suspect for the robberies. Returning home, Henry is horrified to discover that Margaret has hired Wellbeloved to redesign the restaurant's back garden to provide an outdoor dining area.

Car crime is on the rise, with most of the vehicles being stolen from the car park at the railway station. Henry's problems mount as he not only has to deal with two separate sets of thieves, but also with a hostile new female Superintendent. Things come to a head when Fisher's car is nicked at the station right under his nose. Back at the restaurant Gary and Margaret are being given a hard time by an over-zealous Food Inspector. Will she do as she is threatening and close the restaurant down?

Henry investigates a prowler fond of older ladies, and begins to suspect the celibate supplier of his cheese.

A diner collapses and dies in the restaurant's toilet. But when the police arrive the body has disappeared. Soon on the scene are two detectives from the Crime Squad, who have a long standing interest in the dead man, and in his missing car. Crabbe tracks down the car before they do and finds a huge sum of money in the boot.

Fisher's younger daughter has left home after a row and thrown in her lot with a group of squatters. He asks Crabbe to find the girl and try and persuade her to return home. Henderson has bought a new field to add to his market garden, but is horrified to find that it has been invaded by travellers. He appeals to Henry for help, whereupon Henry finds that the two cases have a common thread.

Bill Pritchard, an old friend of Henry's and the supplier of fish to the restaurant, is accused of murder when his girl friend's car is found abandoned and the ashes in his smokehouse show traces of human remains. Henry investigates and uncovers an amazing plot to frame Bill and steal the profits from the subsequent sale of his business.

Medium Faith Revelle has received a number of threatening letters and seeks police help. Freddy Fisher, having once sought advice from her in solving a case, wants the whole matter dealt with quietly. But someone has alerted the press. Henry Crabbe and Sgt. Cambridge are assigned to guard Miss Revelle.

In a moment of weakness famous cookery writer Hilary Smallwood has given her unscrupulous nephew Colin a Power of Attorney. He has sold her house and put her into a retirement home; now he is trying to steal her recently written memoirs. Hilary calls on Henry Crabbe and her lifelong friend Seymour to help. Meantime there is friction behind the scenes in the restaurant between Steve and John.

Fisher drags Crabbe down to the West Country to investigate the apparent murder of an undercover woman police officer. While Henry is away a burst pipe causes havoc in the restaurant's kitchen.

The man who shot PC Ian Lefebvre is due for release so Fisher wants to keep Lefebvre busy. What better than sending him off with Crabbe in search of two OAP con-women and the perfect bread and butter pudding?

There's a spate of burglaries, the local police station's closed down and the great and good of Middleton, headed by Mr. Chukky Chicken' Barry Wilkes, want Crabbe to catch the thief, popularly believed to be teenager Karl Elves or 'Pikey'. To their dismay, Crabbe is much more interested in pike than 'Pikey'.

Crabbe has to join ACC Fisher and DS Cambridge on a management development seminar, but Fisher is having a crisis of confidence in 'The Job' and after a rave review, 'Pie' has customers queuing at the door - could this be Crabbe's chance to leave the Force and concentrate on cooking?

Henry lets Hooperman escape, and Fisher takes the opportunity to suspend his retirement.

A delusional cop seeks to bring Fisher's ally down, and Henry recruits a new waiter.

Pie in the Sky becomes the scene of a corruption sting, but Henry acts in favour of his customer.

Henry cooks a banquet for a visiting Japanese delegation, and tracks down a criminal from his past, who was presumed dead.

A narcotics investigation ends in a bitten hand for Fisher, and Henry finds a new source of escargots.

Steve investigates the burglary of Pie in the Sky, while Henry does battle with murderous private sector cops.

The girlfriend of Henry's dry cleaner is kidnapped by a psychotic ex-lover.

Henry uncovers two separate wine scams in Middleton.

Henderson's neighbour finds a dismembered corpse, which may prove the innocence of an imprisoned man.

Margaret and Henderson side with Reynard the Fox in opposing a new bypass, while Henry must question his loyalties.