Birmington Zoo director George Surridge is a man with many worries: his marriage is collapsing; his finances are insecure; and an outbreak of disease threatens the animals in his care. As Surridge's debts mount and the pressure on him increases, he begins to dream of miracle solutions. But is he cunning enough to turn his dreams into reality, and could he commit the most devious murder in pursuit of his goals? Innovative for its time, Freeman Wills Crofts's 1938 novel is told from the perspective of the criminal, a desperate man who must match wits with Scotland Yard's unflappable Inspector French.