Crime novelist and detective Paul Temple and his glamorous wife Steve made their first appearance on BBC Radio in 1938. They inhabited a sophisticated world of chilled cocktails and fast cars, where the women were chic and the men wore cravats - a world where Sir Graham Forbes, of Scotland Yard, usually needed Paul Temple's help with his latest tricky case.

The radio serials proved so popular that Francis Durbridge was inspired to write a succession of novels featuring the smooth sleuth. This thrilling story, read by Buffy and Little Britain star Anthony Head, sees Paul and Steve investigating a baffling abduction that soon turns into a murder case.

Returning from an author tour of America, Paul is met at the dockside by his publisher Scott Reed, who wants him to investigate the mysterious disappearance of Alfred Kelby. Reed had entrusted Kelby with a sensational diary written by Margaret Spender, the mistress of Lord Delamore, containing several clues pointing to the murderer of Delamore.

When Kelby is strangled and the diary stolen, it seems that the two events are connected. But could there be another motive for Kelby's murder? Paul is determined to find out...