The headlines were gruesome: two beautiful women found strangled in the studio of a well-known London artist. To investigator William Monk and his wife Hester, the murders are a nightmare. One of the victims is an obscure artist's model. The other is the wife of Hester's cherished colleague, distinguished surgeon Dr. Kristian Beck, a Viennese emigre who swiftly becomes the principal suspect. With an intensity born of desperation, Hester, Monk, and their dear friend Lady Callandra Daviot, who cannot hide her deep love for the accused, seek evidence that will save Kristian from the hangman - hoping to penetrate not only the mystery of Elissa Beck's death... but the riddle of her life.