A temperamental tortoise. An ingenious trap to catch a killer. Lovely Celia Kent, a journalist from London, had so looked forward to a quiet vacation at Madame Oliver's gracious hotel on the French Riviera. It was disappointing to arrive and find Madame no longer in charge and the hotel itself inhabited by a group of very strange guests. Most disturbing of all was a stockbroker named Barre, whose strange entourage included a very temperamental tortoise. The sudden disappearance of this odd pet on a deserted quay provided the perfect setting for sinister things to come - including violent and cold-blooded murder.