The time is winter 1962, the place London. Teddy Bean's detective agency isn't doing too well lately. Their most illustrious client is an ageing actor who thinks he will be murdered. Another case is even more complicated when ex-police detective Tony Halliday is assigned to a worried wife who thinks her husband is planning a bank robbery and falls for her in the process.

Meanwhile, Teddy's worries about his failing business and on-off relationship with a divorcee are beginning to take their toll on his mental health.

This story is the fifth outing for the Teddy Bean murder mystery series.