Desire and deceit bring an American detective to colonial India, where the sweltering heat gives way to cold-hearted murder in this Golden Age mystery. William Shakespeare Gabriel once thought he would try and fulfill his middle name's potential, but he was whisked from journalism to the pursuit of crime. Now, the private detective is in India on the eve of World War II. He's been hired to find Fred Oaks, the black sheep son of an American sugar and molasses tycoon who was disinherited by his recently deceased father. Gabriel finds Oaks in the crime-ridden port city of Shakkarpur, where the soldier of fortune is sowing political unrest and-quite unwittingly-passion among the women. When Gabriel's female client is murdered, Oaks is the obvious suspect, and Gabriel is out of a job. But that doesn't stop the intrepid PI from seeking the truth among the city's British citizens, uncovering secrets that have wound their way around the world, only to come home to roost.