Some say the Hotel Tempesta is cursed, but its owner, Mr Gallo, refuses to believe it. When he's brutally murdered one night, the suspicion falls on his guests. Ten suspects in total. And Penny Green is one of them.

Does Mr Gallo's murder have anything to do with the criminal mastermind on the run from America? Penny and Inspector James Blakely must negotiate a world of courtesans, stolen paintings and secret codes to prove Penny's innocence and uncover the truth.