En route to a family vacation on the French Riviera, Inspector Roderick Alleyn glimpses from the train a shocking tableau. In a moonlit window a white-robed figure raises a knife to a woman's shadow. Thus begins his incognito exploration of the Chateau of the Silver Goat . . . where a jet-set cult's "Way of Life" could spell death for a maiden lady of a certain age -- and even for Alleyn's own young son unless he can unveil its illicit mysteries. . .