Publisher's Synopsis
At the urgent plea of a friend, SIS Deputy Chief Tweed visits Bella Main, formidable matriarch of the Main Chance, the most powerful private bank in Europe. She tells him that she has refused an enormous offer from the villainous Calouste Doubenkian. Within days she is dead, and Tweed and Paula Grey return to investigate an atrocious murder. At Hengistbury HQ, based in a huge Elizabethan manor hidden in The Forest, Tweed is reacquainted with the two families that have run the bank for generations: the arrogant, slippery Marshal Main, co-director with his brother, Warner Chance, who is quieter and harder to read, and their children. Tweed detects hatred between the two families, unearthing deceit and dangerous secrets as he mingles with these strange characters. Then the news arrives that Calouste is in England. A second murder is committed and a battle ensues between Tweed's team and Calouste's killers - the race is on to prevent yet another murder.
