The second novel in a detective cycle about Captain Wyndham and Sergeant Indestructible investigating crimes in Calcutta at the beginning of the 20th century. India, 1920 Captain Sam Wyndham and a Banerjee sergeant known as the Invincible must investigate the murder of a Maharaja's son. Sam Wyndham pays an official visit to the kingdom of Sambalpur, home to the diamond mines and the beautiful Palace of the Sun. When the eldest son and heir of the Maharaja is killed, Wyndham realizes that the tiny kingdom is torn apart by conflicts. The slain Prince Adir was unpopular with religious groups, while his brother - now first in line to the throne - appears to be an incapable frivolous dandy. Trying to unravel the mystery of the prince's death, Wyndham and Sergeant Indestructible find themselves in a real web that has entangled the Maharaja's possessions. the Maharaja's wives, his concubines, eunuchs, their bodyguards, ministers, British officials - somewhere among them a murderer lurks, and the detectives must find him before he opens the hunt for them.