Journalist Emmeline Kirby and her jewel thief insurance investigator husband Gregory Longdon were in the mood for intrigue at the theatre. However, murder was only supposed to take place on stage. All too soon, the evening s peace is shattered when the ceiling collapses in the Upper Circle.

   In the ensuing chaos of the evacuation, Emmeline and Gregory discover tabloid reporter Verena Penrose in her box. Her neck had been snapped. Verena had done a brisk trade in scandal, blackmail and splashy exposés. Her fatal error was tangling with the Raven, an elusive assassin with ties to the Russians and ETA, the Basque separatist group.

   Although Verena despised Emmeline, she leaves a cryptic message for her that is too tantalizing to ignore. However the layer upon layer of lies, jealousy and revenge touch too close to home when her brother Adam is implicated in the Raven s schemes to infiltrate the London Diamond Bourse and to murder a prominent British official.

   To restore the family honor, Emmeline and Gregory race to Madrid only to walk into the Raven s trap.