'Any book by Michael Gilbert is a treat' --Daily Telegraph
A man is found dead in an escape tunnel beneath an Italian prisoner-of-war camp. Did he die in an accidental collapse--or was this murder? Captain Henry 'Cuckoo' Goyles, master tunneller and amateur detective, takes up the case.
This classic locked-room mystery with a closed circle of suspects is woven together with a thrilling story of escape from the camp, as the Second World War nears its endgame and the British prisoners prepare to flee into the Italian countryside.