It's July 1936, and Charlotte Frayne is the junior associate in a two-person private investigation firm, owned by T. Gilmore. An anti-Semitic hate letter is delivered to Gilmore, and a veteran of the First World War requests the firm's assistance in uncovering what he believes is systematic embezzlement of the Paradise Café, which he owns and operates with three other men, all of whom were prisoners of war. The two events, although seemingly completely unrelated, come together in this wonderful novel that brings to life characters who are as real to the reader as those of the Murdoch series.