The new Sir Geoffrey Buller is earning his living in Chicago when he unexpectedly inherits his title, an English baronetcy, and Forde Manor in Surrey, complete with its vast collection of priceless works of art. His widowed housekeeper, who knows a thing or two, is surprised to discover that Sir Geoffrey is having his pictures cleaned.

But then disaster strikes! A devastating fire, a missing artist and a lot of insurance money – from a mosaic of detail, Inspector French must reconstruct the pattern of a most cunning and complex crime…