Torben Helle - art historian, Danish expat and owner of several excellent Scandinavian jumpers - has been dragged to a remote Northumbrian mansion for a ten-year reunion with old university friends. But when some shocking revelations from their host, a reclusive and irritating tech entrepreneur, are followed by an apparent suicide, the group faces a test of their wits... and their trust.

Surrounded by enigmatic housekeepers and off-duty police inspectors, suspicion and sarcasm quickly turn to panic. Only by drawing upon all the tricks of Golden Age detectives past will Torben be able to solve the mystery: how much money would it take to turn one of his old friends into a murderer? But he'd better be quick, or someone else might end up dead...