Any reasonable summary of this book's plot would give away too much of the mystery it describes, so suffice it to say that it is a definite 'page-turner.' Right from the first chapter, when we learn about the mysterious recently-turned-millionaire Fenwick being strangely horrified by what he sees in a small silver box he finds on his dinner-table, we learn that he may not be what he appears to be, and that his lovely daughter may have a mysterious past of her own. The main characters of the story are a wealthy lawyer named Jim Gurdon, and his world-travelling, tanned, adventurous friend Gerald Venner, who amazes Gurdon and the readers with his own story about the alleged millionaire Fenwick, his daughter, and some other noteworthy characters.