Murder takes center stage when a song-and-dance man is targeted, in an Albert Campion whodunit from ""the best of mystery writers"" (The New Yorker).

When entertainer Jimmy Sutane falls victim to a string of malicious practical jokes, there's only one man who can get to the bottom of the apparent vendetta against the music hall darlinggentleman sleuth Albert Campion. Soon, however, the backstage pranks escalate, and an aging starlet is killed. Under pressure to uncover the culprit and plagued by his growing feelings for Sutane's wife, Campion finds himself uncomfortably embroiled in an investigation which tests his ingenuityand integrityto the limit.

""Allingham's work is always of the first rank."" The New York Times