Ernest Balthazar Moncrieff is a senior inspector in the Serious Freud Office, an eccentric figure even by the standards of a service devoted to matters of nationally
important cultural crime.
Living in the genteel relative backwater of Pimlico suits him well - its fine plumbing, central location (North of the river!) and faded grandeur provide the
technology-suspicious, culture-loving Moncrieff with respite from the stresses and challenges of his job. (As well as a home for his eclectic and extensive wine collection!)
A job whose stresses crank up unexpectedly when an attempted poison dart assassination at a BBC prom of The Planets suite is only the first in a series of such attacks, which brings his
name back under the acid scrutiny of the media and his politically ambitious boss!
His working relationship with his new assistant Benskin is once again stretched, as well as his liaison with the visiting member of the LAPD, Lieutenant Yoshida.
And then there's his bete noir, the self-promoting and ruthless fellow inspector Jack Markitt who is determined to big-up his involvement in the high-profile cultural
visit of the charismatic Pope Boris.
Can Moncrieff unravel the signals from his synesthesia and bring Zeno's Paradox to bear on the case of the fiendish poison darter?