| Synopsis: |
In the chill winter of 1894, Dr Antoine Landru, a foreign idealist who runs a free clinic in the deprived London district of St Sepulchre's declares that the recent opening of an ancient plague pit in the area will lead to the return of the bubonic plague. The authorities laugh him to scorn, but when Sir Anthony Denny, Public Physician to the Home Office, dies of a mysterious illness, the authorities are forced to take notice. Public fear climaxes in a serious riot in St Sepulchre's, which is only quelled with the aid of the military. Detective Inspector Arnold Box of Scotland Yard becomes involved in the Landru affair, which proves to be only peripheral to an evil plot designed to bring Europe to the brink of war by the wholesale destruction of the reigning houses of Europe. Working with Colonel Kershaw, head of secret intelligence, Box pursues the mysterious and deadly Herr Falkenheyn, the ringleader of the plot, and the climax of the affair is reached in a snowbound country hotel in Yorkshire, where Box and his associates bring the whole conspiracy to a dramatic end. This is the eighth in the "Inspector Box" series of period thrillers. |