American anthropologist Penny Spring and British archaeologist Sir Toby Glendower have received a tantalizing invitation. Would they join old friend Jules Lefau on a three-week cruise among the Greek islands? Toby is wary of any invitation from the wily Lefau, but Penny sets off eagerly, children and grandchildren in tow. Arriving, the Springs find an astonishing assemblage of multimillionaires, entire dynasties and paramours included. Soon, however, Penny senses a dark purpose behind the festivities, especially following the sudden, mysterious death of patriarch Demetrios. Then Demetrios's heir is found murdered, his body floating in a swimming pool. Toby, summoned from Oxford, arrives in the Mediterranean just as another attempt on the life of an heir takes place. Clearly, someone is out to eradicate an entire clan, and only Penny and Sir Toby have the wits to pursue a perilous investigation to its alarming conclusion. "A new Margot Arnold mystery is always a pleasure," writes the Chicago Sun-Times. "She should be better known, particularly since her mysteries are often compared to those of the late Ngaio Marsh."