Young private-eye-in-training Jerome gets his first true case when he receives an emergency summons from the Baron de Verville, whose life is in danger. When Jerome arrives at the Baron’s villa, however, his employer is nowhere to be found and the young detective is told to return home. It all sounds suspicious to our stalwart hero and his doubts grow when he meets the other occupants at the villa, including the Baron’s two adult children, who don’t seem concerned about their father’s disappearance. The villa’s gothic architecture, secret passages, hidden closets, and suspicious characters are all it takes to commit the perfect murder. It makes the board game Clue look like an evening dance at the vicarage—and Jerome K. Jerome Bloche is right in the middle of it.
