Gordon Gregg is an Englishman serving temporarily as Consul in Italy. He gets invited on a luxurious yacht by a visiting countryman. On board, Gordon finds the photo of a lovely young woman, torn in pieces. Upon his return to shore he discovers that the consulate's safe is robbed, and yacht has sat sail in the meanwhile. Obsessed with the photograph of a young woman who holds a deadly secret Gordon stars a quest that will lead him into many adventures and misadventures all across Europe.
William Le Queux (1864-1927) was an Anglo-French writer who mainly wrote in the genres of mystery, thriller, and espionage, particularly in the years leading up to World War I. His best-known works are the anti-French and anti-Russian invasion fantasy "The Great War in England in 1897" and the anti-German invasion fantasy "The Invasion of 1910."