This Patrick Grant novel has the detective trying to discover the reason for the apparent suicide of actor Sam Irwin, who is found in the Thames shortly before he is due to open in the new season at Stratford-upon-Avon.

At first, the accidental death of a dog, another suicide, and a series of art robberies, seem to have nothing to do with Sam, but Patrick finds a chain of linking circumstances and realises that the death in the Thames was only the prelude to a gross deception in which Sam was cast as victim.

The climax is reached during a concert at the Festival Hall when Patrick himself is threatened with death. He knows that unless he survives, Sam's last and greatest role will have been played in vain.