With his first case Albert Campion scored a genteely British coup. His new client, though, is the very American Judge Crowdy Lobbett. His Honor has come into possession of evidence identifying the criminal mastermind behind a gang that is terrorizing New York, and the gang, in response, has begun terrorizing Judge Lobbett. For safety, Campion sends the Judge and his family to Mystery Mile, a secluded house deep in the British countryside. But that safety is illusory: Soon after their arrival the local vicar is killed, a clear message from the gang. The gang, however, has underestimated Campion. Beneath his stream of banter is a razor-sharp detective's intellect, and he is soon sending deadly serious messages of his own.