Apparently Lew Archer was called to investigate the burglary of a golden Florentine box at the Chalmerses' family mansion. As he digs into the mystery, the private detective finds himself in a case involving treachery, murder, and embezzlement-in short a case that dated back to a quarter of the century. As Lew progresses through, the case becomes less and less a material theft and more like a trap of relationships. Soon he would have to unearth the secrets buried deep twenty five years ago by people, some of them now dead.
The story is, no doubt, thrilling with a shell-shocking end. One of the reasons why I didn't like the book very much is that only two young people appeared in the whole story. The major part of the story revolved around the old ones and their past history. Oops, I think I mustn't spoil the thrill.