Ethelred Tressider is a mystery writer with problems, not the least of which is his incurably nosy, chocolate-chomping agent, who couldn't give two toffees for mystery novels. She does, however, have a passion for real-life mysteries, and that passion gets stirred up when Ethelred's ex-wife goes missing and Ethelred -- none too tightly wound at the best of times -- starts behaving in an extremely peculiar fashion.