THE times, they are a-changing, as George Gently and Bacchus realise during their latest case, which looks like a particularly grim and laughfree episode of Hi-de-Hi.

It’s now 1969 and the permissive society has finally made it to the duo’s patch – or at least to a holiday camp that claims to embrace family values, but is in fact a hotbed of sex and betrayal.

Gently and his sidekick are called in to investigate the murder of Meg, a popular, bubbly and talented bluecoat at the camp.

Everyone claims they can think of no reason why somebody would want to kill her – she was a charismatic performer who was great with the guests.

But as Gently and Bacchus scratch the surface of the camp, it dawns on them that its family-friendly exterior is only a front, a thin veneer covering an underbelly of something far more sordid. Bacchus, meanwhile, decides it is time he got his own family life back in order by getting more access to his daughter.