On a sultry afternoon in July, a man stumbles through thick foliage and rough ground, making for the coast. He wears prisoner’s garb and the guards are hot on his heels. Happening upon a bather’s clothes – the bather nowhere in sight – the escapee takes the risk, changes and leaves the scene looking the part of the average beachcomber.

But it can be hard to stay hidden forever. When a blackmailer intrudes for the last time upon the promising life of the man who now calls himself Mr. Pottermack, a violent fate befalls him, and the stakes are set: Pottermack must avoid discovery at all costs to escape the hangman’s noose for murder.

When Pottermack’s attempts to fabricate evidence arouse the suspicions of the fiercely forensic Dr. Thorndyke, a nerve-racking game is afoot as we follow both detective and suspect in their contest to root out – or bury – the damning truth in this inverted-mystery classic, first published in 1930.