When the British Colonial Governor of Chania is strangled to death in his study, the possible suspects include a wronged husband, a fiery-tempered local politician, and the members of an African secret society working against white rule. It is a tangled web forSuperintendent Vachell of the Chania CID to unravel, but fortunately he has the help of a brash young female anthropologist and a canny, snuff-taking witch doctor.