In Berlin, two former French intelligence agents hire Klaus Reiner, a ruthlessly effective hit man, to eliminate an American industrialist vacationing in southwestern France. Reiner easily locates his target in the small village of Taziac, but the hit is compromised when three innocent people are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Enter Inspector Paul Mazarelle, formerly of Paris but now living in Taziac, charged with bringing his experience in the capital to bear on the gruesome quadruple homicide.

Both Mazarelle’s investigation and Reiner’s assignment become complicated when Molly Reece, a New York City district attorney and daughter of two of the victims, arrives and begins asking questions. Though all evidence points to a local handyman, Mazarelle and Molly have their doubts, forcing Reiner to return to ensure they see things as he has arranged them—and that no one suspects the international political motives behind the murder.