Holidays on a river cruiser are thought to be peaceful and stress free - this one wasn't. Elaine Forest, a police inspector from the UK, expected nothing more than a watching brief as she cruised on the River Danube. However, when you mix an assortment of characters, including an old hand of stage and screen, a snooty rival, two yokels, two amazing old ladies, a retired journalist, and girls out to have fun then blend them with a vain Italian member of staff, a Russian prince and a large dose of criminality, the results are anything but predictable. The intervention of foreign police and the UK 'Border Force' together with smuggling, subterfuge, murder, farce, audacity and romance, all help to produce a series of surprising deceptions.

An old shopping arcade transformed into a trendy retail and business venue. No-one would dream that such an innocuous setting could hide a plethora of personal dramas, nor would anyone have suspected the mysteries that would be present inside its walls. What did it all have to do with events in history that were long past but not forgotten?

The year is 1998. Sir George Arlington, a despicable and ruthless businessman, who has spent most of his life plotting and scheming against others, is now the target for retribution. He has no idea of the web of intrigue growing around him. An Italian Contessa, a retired Captain of the Royal Navy, gangsters from the East End of London and those with dark secrets, brought together with four young friends from very different backgrounds, who each have their own agenda, find themselves cruising with Sir George, on a luxury yacht in the Mediterranean. Plots and schemes abound, a death occurs and more confusion is added by a pompous Spanish police officer who resents the inevitable intervention of the British authorities. When the plots unravel, who are the winners and who are the losers?