An American millionaire buys an exclusive hotel on a whim, but soon discovers that shady dealings, secret passageways, kidnapping and murder lurk behind the expensive exteriors and aristocratic calm of the Grand Babylon Hotel.

Nella, daughter of millionaire Theodore Racksole, orders a dinner of steak and beer at the exclusive Grand Babylon Hotel in London. Her order is refused, so Theodore promptly buys the chef, the kitchen and the whole hotel. But when hotel staff begin to vanish and a German prince goes missing, Nella discovers that murder, blackmail and kidnapping are also on the menu. A rollicking murder mystery from one of the finest writers of the last century.