Working as a private investigator, Marcus Didius Falco agrees to dig up information for the family of wealthy developer, Hortensius, on Hortensius's mistress, Severina, a woman they believe to be a golddigger.
The third novel in Annie Murray's "Birmingham" series. While Genie's father is away fighting in World War II, her mother has a ruinous affair which leaves her pregnant; Genie's little brother leaves, never to return; while Genie herself meets a man who then disappears to war.