CIA agent Emily Pollifax is called in to help when a young American woman who faced down hijackers on board a flight to the Middle East, saving the lives of hundreds of people, disappears and U.S. officials believe she has been kidnapped.

A missing salami leads Mrs. Pollifax to a shocking discovery: a woman is hiding in her house. Even more unsettling is the revelation that ever since the young woman had a chance encounter with the heir to the throne of Ubangiba, she has been followed by deadly hitmen. What do these men want?

Hang on to your hats--the most senior and eccentric of American sleuths is off again. This time that "nice Mr. Cartstairs" wants Mrs. P. to go to China to help get another agent out.

Mrs. Pollifax must smuggle a manuscript out of Jordan, a document that encodes the truth of Saddam Hussein's reign.