Frieda Schoenhofer is dead, murdered in Rotterdam. For her grief-stricken parents the true story of their daughter's life is about to begin.
Her father, slowly demolishing the world around him, tries to eradicate painful memories by throwing out his lifelong collection of film memorabilia. Her mother is convinced Frieda has been reincarnated as a new born foal.
But Frieda isn't dead. She is travelling Europe hoping to rescue her father's discarded collection. A journey of redemption that takes her to Nice, Prague, Turin and Vienna, where she meets a crooked dealer in antique silverware, joins a funeral party full of mourners who can't stop laughing, falls in love with a beautiful marionette, and discovers a plan to destroy the legacy of Mozart.
The One Rule of Magic explores Frieda's attempts to make amends for the crimes of her old life, come to terms with what she has become, and prepare her parents for the bizarre truth surrounding their daughter's disappearance.