US exchange student Hieronymus Beck is Professor Jack Griffen's biggest fan. Together the pair spend hours discussing Griffen's writing, as well as the greatest classic crime and true crime books of all time. But everything changes when Beck vanishes, leaving only a list of five templates to a murder. In a thrilling chase that crosses international borders, Griffen will be tested to the utmost – as he uses his knowledge of classic crime to try to catch a serial killer before the killer catches him.