It's Carnival and everyone is having fun. Though perhaps not everyone...
Nancy Tremayne is on holiday in Rio with her husband, Leo, and the city is dancing from dawn to dusk. An explosion of energy and colour that Nancy loves. But when she overhears an ugly quarrel, finds a woman dead, and hears of a missing child, she is drawn into a terrible crime that lies hidden beneath the sun-warmed beaches and the samba rhythms.
Together with Archie, Leo's assistant, Nancy embarks on a perilous mission to track down a killer and find the child who faces the greatest of danger. Can they uncover the villain behind this dreadful trade and reach the little girl in time?
It's going to take some Brazilian magic.
Murder and suspense are peppered with romance in this fast-paced mystery set in the glamour of 1950s Rio.