And Then There Were Ten finds a satisfied Stokes happily pondering his editor's request that he list his ten favorite crime novels of all time - a nearly impossible task for a man with five thousand mysteries in his personal library. It's an endlessly appealing assignment for a nationally renowned mystery reviewer such as Stokes, analyzing the best of the best, but Stokes soon must put his list aside when his fiancee, literary agent Lee Holland, persuades him to attend the eightieth birthday bash for Izzy Cohen, a former superagent to the stars. In his day, Izzy was one of the most powerful agents in Hollywood. Now he's a frightened old man with a secret that could hurt him and destroy others. Someone has stolen a compromising adult videotape from Izzy's home, and Izzy's afraid the theft may be part of a scheme to blackmail one or more of ten people who appear on the tape. He begs Stokes to find the potential victims and locate the tape before it's too late and something terrible happens.