When Father Hobbes mysteriously dies at the high altar on Good Friday, Dr. Jonathan Hullah - whose holistic work has earned him the label "Cunning Man" - wants to know why. His search for answers compels him to look back over his own long life, and he conjures vivid memories of the dazzling intellectual high jinks and compassionate philosophies of himself and his circle, which includes professors, bankers, curates and artists .