Antonio Jauma, an old acquaintance, dies desperately wanting to get in touch with Pepe Carvalho. When Jauma's body is found, the police see it as an open and shut case, and put it down to a pimp getting his own back. Jauma's widow has good reason to believe that her husband's death is not what it seems. And who better to investigate than Carvalho, a private eye with a CIA past and contacts with the Communist Party? His search for the truth - via lobster thermidor, duck ragout and chilled orujo - unearths a far more sinister motive for the murder of this high-flying businessman as he delves into the dangerous world of industrial spying.