Moreton is the representative in Rome for a London insurance broker who deals at Lloyds of London. Moreton's troubles begin with the appearance of Dr. Avicenna. "Some instinct of self-preservation should have warned me against Dr. Avicenna from the start…how many times since have I cursed myself for getting so easily, so light-heartedly involved with him?"
Avicenna's proposal is for a gigantic insurance policy on a dissolute Italian prince, to include a clause insuring the prince against a kidnap ransom. The subsequent events are exciting, intricate and funny.
John Pearson was a writer best associated with James Bond creator Ian Fleming. He was Fleming's assistant at the London Sunday Times and would go on to write the first biography of Ian Fleming, 1966's *The Life of Ian Fleming*. Pearson also wrote "true-crime" biographies, such as *The Profession of Violence*: an East End gang story about the rise and fall of the Kray twins.
