Art expert Davenport Jones has moved into the heady world of the international art market in London and now works as a senior executive in the old and established firm of Londy's. The novel is a hilarious account of Davenport's passage through his world and his pursuit of a cache of valuable avant-garde paintings by a reclusive Russian master in St Petersburg. On his journey he meets a miscellany of eccentric dealers and beautiful women, and is caught in the cross-fire of a long-standing family dispute.