In quiet St. Mary Mead, a flawlessly polite new family settles into village life just as a major London bullion raid shocks the country, and what begins as small oddities—carefully timed parcels, rehearsed manners, borrowed keys, tested windows, and a church fête “exhibition” of valuables—tightens into murder, a locked-room puzzle, and a covert collection scheme hidden beneath charity tins and social respectability; inspired by historical crime of its era while remaining entirely fictional, The Respectable Collectors is an original Golden Age–style mystery about performance, trust, procedural patience, and the high cost of mistaking polish for innocence.