Lewis returns to Oxford after several years absence and is reluctantly assigned by his new boss, DCS Innocent, to the murder of an Oxford mathematics student who was shot while participating in a sleep study. The key-code used to access the sleep lab was assigned to a fellow maths student, Daniel Griffin, but Daniel's math tutor has provided him with an alibi. Daniel is a maladjusted young man who will soon inherit his father's automotive empire. He is disruptive and has no respect for his uncle who now heads the company. The future of the company however rests on an impending deal with Japanese investors who insist that family unity is all important at this time. When two other murder occurs, Lewis must decipher a cryptic clue left in an old case file by his former boss, Chief Inspector Morse.

　　Twice a month, Mrs. Bixby travels to Baltimore to visit an elderly aunt, her only living relative. Or so she tells her dentist husband. In fact, she visits the Colonel, her rich lover. Before returning home, he gives her a gift of a fur coat - along with a letter saying that they won't be seeing other any more. Mrs. Bixby decides to pawn the coat but her elaborate scheme to explain the coat to her husband doesn't quite go as planned.

　　In Son of a Donkey, we meet Theo just as he moves out of his home to claim his independence — until he’s faced with the harsh realities of adulthood. From driving fines and daddy issues to internet scams and a lot of therapy, Theo and his best friend Johnny get up to their usual antics as they come to terms with what’s most important: family.