The book opens with a bloody discovery: the corpse of a young soprano who has been skewered with a prop from the WNO's soon-to-premiere production of Puccini's Tosca. As the media swarm, the company sets up its own task force, and Annabel asks Mac to be involved. Life imitates opera, and suddenly all the performers seem to have something to hide: passions for one another, histories better left uncovered, and even connections to foreign terrorists. The murder investigation is in a race against time mere weeks before opening night, a black-tie gala at which everyone - including the President himself - will be in the seats.