After the disappearance of writer Owen Quine, his wife turns to private investigator Cormoran Strike. Believing that her husband is simply hiding from his family, as has happened more than once, Leonora Quine instructs Strike to find the fugitive and return him to the bosom of the family. But during the investigation, Strike realizes that the matter is much more serious than Leonora thinks.

Owen Quine took with him the manuscript of a new novel, where he exposed almost all his acquaintances, including very famous and influential ones, in an unsightly light persons The writer will ruin their destinies if he does not refuse publication. It is not surprising that many would like to silence him.

Strike soon discovers that Quine was the victim of a monstrous murder. Now it is necessary to calculate the motives of an unheard of cruel, sophisticated criminal.