Our deal is over.'This is what reluctant author Anthony Horowitz tells ex-detective Daniel Hawthorne in an awkward encounter. The truth is that Anthony has other things on his mind. His new play 'Mindgame' is about to open at London's Vaudeville theatre, and on opening night, Sunday Times critic Harriet Throsby gives the play a savage review.

The next morning she is found dead, stabbed in the heart with an ornamental dagger that has only one set of finger prints on it. Anthony's. Anthony is arrested, charged with Throsby's murder, and thrown into prison.

Alone and increasingly desperate, he realises only one man can help him. But will Hawthorne take his call?