Barry Dawson's role in the diamond transaction between Lambert and Hudson had seemed legitimate enough; only the fact that he had been called in as the appraiser instead of one of the local diamond firms suggested that the deal itself was a secret one. It was to prove of particular interest to the police, too, when, that evening, Colin Lambert was found shot to death in his bungalow, the drawer safe into which he had put the diamonds still locked but the stones gone.
Man on a Rope is a tense story of hot diamonds and hot money, and a man's attempt to clear himself of circumstantial evidence, played out against a background of hate and viciousness and murder and greed.