The rarest lost book in history has been found, and stolen all over again, in Paris. Its pursuers include the most diabolical literary criminal in the world, Krisko Krillkin. The man who re-lost the masterpiece, bookseller Chester Quinn, is hopelessly overmatched. Luckily, into his life floats Circe Evans, granddaughter of Paris' most renowned and complacent detective, Homer Evans. Circe assembles a motley, fiercely loyal crew and leads a breakneck dash, strewn with murders, near-murders, lovers, torturers and naked ladies, from Montparnasse to Montmartre, interrupted by a wild goose chase to London.