The Archduke Franz Ferdinand has been assassinated on June 28, 1914, and Europe stumble towards the most destructive war in its history. Ex-Chancellor von Bulow some years ago met with Winston Churchill (then head of the British Navy), and agreed that in such a dangerous crisis, which the mentally unstable Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany could aggravate into an unstoppable conflict, the two would work together to assassinate the Emperor. They each enlist a marksman, von Bulow a young naval officer whose father was once disgraced by the Kaiser, and Churchill his own aide. The two men rendezvous at Bulow's summer island cottage where they become rivals for the old man's young and beautiful niece. In the meantime, the Berlin police have caught wind of the plot and send their ace detective on the trail of the plotters. The plan is to murder the Kaiser during his summer Norwegian cruise, when he comes ashore for a picnic. How it all turns out is the page-turning story of this novel, Kill The Kaiser.