Dr B. MacRannoch is in the Bahamas with her father who has moved there from Scotland because of asthma. She is a savvy and tough young woman who shows much independence of mind and spirit.

However, when Sir Bart Edgecome, a British agent who has been poisoned with arsenic, falls ill on his way back from New York, she becomes involved in a series of events beyond her wildest imagination.

Drawn into an espionage plot with multiple suspects, it is only the presence of enigmatic portrait painter Johnson Johnson on his yacht, Dolly, that saves the day. But nothing is quite as straightforward as it at first seems.

PRAISE FOR THE DOLLY MYSTERY SERIES

‘The Dolly novels are… delicious, funny, ingenious, glamorous, clever’ Listener

‘Dunnett tempts her fans with buried clues and red herrings that keep them reading and rereading the books’ New York Times 

‘[Dunnett’s] women are among her strongest characters' Guardian

Dorothy Dunnett (1923-2001) is the celebrated author of the Dolly books (aka the Johnson Johnson series). She was a trustee of the National Library of Scotland, and a board member of the Edinburgh International Book Festival. In 1992 she was awarded an OBE for her services to literature.