Berlin, 1939: Cathleen O’Dea has come from Hollywood to Germany to star in a film.  She also wants to trace her missing mother. Desperate for help in her search, she responds to the attentions of Josef Goebbels.  This is viewed with alarm and jealousy by Sean Carmody, the one time boy hero of a previous Cleary classic, The Sundowners. The other characters seen through Carmody’s eyes are Admiral Canaris and his agony over an uncovered secret; a disillusioned English aristocrat, formerly a Hitler favourite; General von Albern as he plans to assassinate Hitler; and the General don Helmut’s romance with an English actress.