Orphaned American Sandra Brown believes she has found her dream of happiness when she comes to Ireland in search of a long-lost relative but instead meets and marries successful architect Brian Calloways. The dream quickly becomes a nightmare, however, when Brian disappears and Sandra is suspected of collaborating with his business partner, Douglas Duane, in the murder of her husband. As the duo fight to clear their names and discover the truth about Brian's disappearance, they find themselves not only surrounded by sinister opponents and incompetent helpers but also drawn into a world of intrigue and violence. Tracked by the egotistical and corrupt police chief Fred Benbow and baffled by the eccentricities of their private detective Murdock and his Chinese assistant Chiang, Sandra and Douglas start to fear that their quest is doomed, but fate has many surprises in store as their search twists and turns right through to its extraordinary conclusion