This novel is set in 1908, as international tensions are rising and moving the world toward war. A notable American battleship gun designer dies in what is thought a sensational suicide, but his daughter has no doubt he was murdered. She turns to the legendary Van Dorn Detective Agency to investigate and clear her father's name. Owner Joseph Van Dorn assigns his chief investigator, Isaac Bell, to the case. Bell quickly realizes the designer appeared to have been murdered. More suspicious deaths among engineers involved in the design of a new American dreadnought battleship follow. Even Van Dorn agents, including Bell, are attacked and Bell realizes an elusive spy is orchestrating all the havoc. In this story, Bell becomes pitted against British, German and Japanese spies. His quest to get to the bottom of the intrigue leads him to find his elusive spy leading his mission of sabotage and murder right under his nose.