The last thing Tim Simpson expected, when he arrived in Chicago, was to be attacked by three men who had apparently singled him out. Tim, ex-Rugby International, dealt with them easily enough. What puzzled the director of the Art Fund in White's Bank was why he was of such interest. He was in Chicago on the Bank's business. If he had promised an old friend to check the value of some inherited gold shares, what had that to do with the attack?

Everything, it seemed. The original owner of the now worthless shares was an Englishman, Moreton Frewen, known as Mortal Ruin because investors always lost money on his schemes. Rancher, miner, landowner in Sussex and Ireland, uncle by marriage of Winston Churchill, Frewen was a larger than life figure who came to fascinate Tim and his girlfriend, Sue Westerman. Obviously Frewen had believed the gold shares were valuable, because he had instructed that they were 'to be kept with the sergeant'. By the time Tim and Sue had discovered why, their quest had taken them to a dramatic confrontation in Ireland, and Tim had good reason to remember the advice given him by more than one person: 'If you're going to have anything to do with Moreton Frewen and gold shares, keep a sharp eye out. A very sharp eye.'

Genre: Mystery