It is 2001 and inflation is spiralling out of control in Argentina when Bruno Cadogan arrives in Buenos Aires. He is on the trail of Julio Martel, a legendary but elusive singer, who he hopes will inspire and enlighten his thesis on the origins of the tango. But the moment he meets El Tucuman in the airport taxi queue, not only does his new friend find him a cheap room in an expensive city, but a place in the very building where Borges set his celebrated story 'The Aleph'. With El Tucuman's unpredictable help, Bruno is increasingly drawn to the mystery of Martel and his strange and evocative performances in a series of apparently arbitrary and abandoned sites around the city. And as he untangles the story of the singer's life, Bruno also begins to believe that Martel's increasingly rare performances map the dark labyrinth of the city's past.