What better place to go for a rest than a hotel beside the sea which offers its guests 'a restful stay, free from the cares of the workaday world'. However, soon after the arrival of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson the latter encounters a chambermaid with 'a look of mortal terror on her face'.
Upon further investigation the body of a dead man is found in one of the bedrooms, and so begins an adventure which will involve blackmail, murder, and forgery. All is definitely not what it seems for it soon transpires that the chambermaid is working undercover for the Treasury in an attempt to break up a gang of forgers who threaten to flood the country with fake 5 notes.
This case will take Holmes and Watson to the City of London where they will hear of some dubious financial dealings, and also to Dartmoor in search of the printing plates which are so good that at first sight they can even fool the great detective.
John Hall spent many years in the civil service before becoming a professional writer specialising in crime fiction.