Novikov died hard trying to preserve a secret which meant enormous wealth, his discovery of The Impossible Virgin. But right at the last, he babbled.

When Modesty Blaise makes a forced landing in Central Africa she meets a man who possesses that secret without knowing it - Giles Pennyfeather, the guileless and blundering young doctor with a gift for healing. In saving him from the small cold mannikin called Brunel, she buys yet another ticket to danger, for Brunel is determined to have the secret, and he is a man who does not fail. Modesty and her remarkable henchman, Willie Garvin, take on Brunel with his professional killers and the strange albino girl he possesses, Lisa, who is slave to the Voices which speak in her head.

In this fierce and devious battle, Modesty is outwitted and brought to the most shattering reverse she has ever suffered. How she fights back, and at last learns the truth of The Impossible Virgin and her ferocious guardians bring this latest tale in the saga of Modesty Blaise to an astonishing climax.