Paul Henderson is a big time jewel thief on a run of bad luck. He has a seven-year-old daughter to support, so when he's offered a partnership in the biggest heist of all time he decides to try to take the baubles and run.

He reaches Switzerland, where the crime is to take place, and wangles an invitation to a gala only to be confronted by a double threat, a double cross and a kidnapping. And all this is before the night of the burglary arrives . . .

'Donald MacKenzie is a born storyteller' Guardian