THE GIRL IN BLUE is a Gainsborough miniature, the proud possession of a once carefree London solicitor, and before she knows where she is, she is missing.

There hang in a precarious balance, pending her rediscovery: the future of a tottering country seat, the peace of mind of an American tycoon and the good name of his kleptomaniac sister, the happiness of a young heir and his two fiancées, the prospects of a grasping actress, the tenure of employment of a broker's man masquerading as a butler, and the golf of the aforesaid solicitor.