* THE FIFTH NOVEL IN THE BESTSELLING MODESTY BLAISE SERIES *

'The finest escapist thrillers ever written' THE TIMES

'One of the great partnerships in fiction' Kingsley Amis

'Before Buffy, before Charlie's Angels, before Purdy and Emma Peel, there was Modesty Blaise' OBSERVER

Mischa Novikov had never even considered defecting from Russia until a satellite picture of central Africa revealed an almost inaccessible valley containing untold riches - and he's the only man on earth who knows about them. Eight months later Novikov dies in a small hospital not far from his hidden treasure, a victim of torture.

When Modesty Blaise intervenes to prevent Novikov's doctor from being tortured to reveal his patient's secrets, she herself is taken prisoner. It will take all her cunning, and that of her loyal lieutenant Willie Garvin, to escape the clutches of a vicious criminal and his dangerous pets.