The third Auguste Didier mystery.

For the first time in its history, Plum's, that palace of respectability where English gentlemen can find refuge from the world, has agreed to admit ladies. Nothing has been right since.

A series of bizarre incidents plague the club. A rat appears on the dining table, newspapers are mutilated, obscene letters are sent to the doorman, and a member's portrait is slashed. Pranks, say the members. Then a slightly less than lethal dose of poison in the brandy cream dessert turns master chef Auguste Didier into the Master Detective again. And just in time.

Then the impossible happens - a murder at Plum's! One of the members is found dead - and Auguste and his friend Inspector Egbert Rose of Scotland Yard are on a not-so-discreet hunt for a demonically clever and ruthless killer. A gentleman perhaps.