Mystery is taken to the level of enchantment in this lyrical thriller set in the glitter of nineteenth century Paris. At the fashionable salon of Ric Lazare you can have your fortune told by an amazing machine of unerring accuracy. But the police think Lazare is a con man and send Inspector Picard to investigate. Picard prefers lemon tarts and prostitutes to high society, and is unprepared for the string of murders that pulls him across the continent until he is tangled in the killer's last seductive knot. A landmark in the history of detective fiction.