'The writer did it,' claims Lacenaire, the talking parrot, but what does a bird know about who actually killed Augustin Cox, late of Bedfont, an in between area beloved of J. G. Ballard? New to the capital, Geraldine Mycroft is in search of the real London. When she answers an employment ad for a Detective Agency, run by the eccentric Norman aka Norma Bones, she is determined to do things by the book. But which book? Will Queneau give the clue to the case, or will it be more Margery Allingham in this post-Ealing comedy murder mystery?