The Golden Age's most charming investigator returns in a "detailed, wellworked out brain exerciser" from the author of The Beast Must Die (Kirkus Reviews).

Nigel Strangeways is seeing out the end of the Second World War at the Ministry for Morale. Surrounded by stories of victory and success, Nigel is itching to return to his life as a private investigator. But he may need to return to that role sooner than he suspects . . .

Known as "Our Blonde" to the office, Nita Prince is the femme fatale of the Visual Propaganda Division. Rumored to be having an affair with the married director, tensions in the office rise when war hero, former co-worker, and beau of Nita, Charles Kennington, returns.

Long missing and presumed dead, Charles's return sets the office buzzing with gossip and anxious anticipation. But when Nita is poisoned in plain sight at the celebratory gathering, the excitement quickly turns to suspicion: Anyone in that room could be Nita's killer.

With six suspects to choose from, two spurned lovers on the scene, and government secrets at stake, Nigel will need to navigate more than just office politics to solve the case.

Praise for Nicholas Blake
"An outstanding mystery novel. Mr. Blake's writing is a delight in itself." —The New York Times

"The Nicholas Blake books are something quite by themselves in English detective fiction." —Elizabeth Bowen

"His plots are ingenious." —The Times Literary Supplement

"A master of detective fiction." —The Daily Telegraph