The latest case for chessplaying sleuth Jim Danzig of Castletown and his young partner Judith Hare at first seems a fairly routine missing person enquiry, in the shape of the disappearance of the best man on the morning of a wedding. The only unusual feature of the affair is that it again involves members of the murder-prone Castletown Grammar School drama group.
Unsurprisingly perhaps, the detective duo soon find themselves called upon to investigate the most gruesome crime they have yet encountered, as one of the actors is horribly butchered by a medieval weapon.
Enquiry reveals that practically every member of the company had reason to hate or fear the victim, posing Danzig and Hare a more than usually difficult problem. And having come to know and like so many members of the company, do they really want to solve it? But further mayhem follows, culminating in another murder. Clearly the culprit has become a serious public danger.
Yet again, and at no little risk to themselves, Danzig and Hare, aided by their perennial police ally ‘Nobby’ Clarke, pick their way through a confusing tangle of clues to arrive at the solution.