The inimitable Charlotte 'Charlie' James returns in her second exciting mystery.

At a glitzy gala in the ballroom of the Hotel Ritz, young American tourist Maisy Bell meets an intriguing man and accepts his charming offer to take her on a day trip.

But when Maisy doesn't return to the Ritz the following day, alarm bells ring and Maisy's aunt Clementine tries to file a missing person's report. The Paris police laugh the request away. Plenty of tourists 'disappear', having lost themselves in foolish flings. After all, summer in Paris is the perfect time for lovers. Then Clementine Bell receives a ransom note.

Enter investigative reporter Charlie James. As she follows Maisy Bell's designer footsteps around Paris, Charlie is plunged into a heady world of diamonds, haute couture, opera, bohemian wine bars and extravagant soirees in grand country châteaux, before being pulled into the sordid underworld.

Glamorous and fearless, glass of champagne in hand, this is Charlie James at her best.