In investigating the poisoning of a young man in a bookshop at the eastern Market, and the wrongful arrest of one Miss Sylvia Lee, super-sleuth Phryne Fisher is plunged into a word of Jewish politics, alchemy, poison and chicken soup. Stopping only for a brief, but intensely erotic dalliance with the beautiful Simon Abrahams, Phryne's stealth and wit ultimately solve the crime - and all for the price of a song...