Our hero in this case is an American antique dealer and his wife, visiting the UK looking for interesting antiques to buy. He comes across a very interesting medieval box of Jewish origin but, before he can close the deal, the owner is murdered and the box goes missing.
Although also a suspect in the case, our man helps the police investigate the case (although not officially). The theme of being an outsider and how others react to you is to the fore throughout this interesting story full of suspect and interesting characters.