Old lies, new threats. The chickens have come home to roost.

December in London, and Maximilian Cortado, the world famous violinist, has disappeared, the only clue being the unexpected delivery to his townhouse of a basket containing a live hen.

When it emerges that a number of other notable members of society have been receiving similarly unexplained fowl, the deliveries begin to appear more sinister.

Sherlock Holmes, however, seems more intrigued by a trivial incident in Sussex, where someone has been damaging Christmas trees intended for a local stately home. So when he is asked by the wife of a famous artist to investigate a robbery carried out twenty-three years before, Mrs Hudson sees an opportunity to assist.

At the centre of that mystery is the Christmas Canary, a solid gold decoration of mesmerising beauty, hand-crafted for the fifth Lord Empingham. For years it had graced the top of the Christmas tree at Frawling Hall - until its mystifying disappearance broke the seventh Lord's heart. Fowl deeds are afoot, but can Mrs Hudson restore the canary to its perch before it's too late?