Irving Levy is a man with few roots. Now facing an incurable illness, he is anxious to find someone to whom he can leave his considerable property before it's too late. His closest relative would be his younger sister, Miriam, but she vanished without a trace at a fairground in the 1960s. When Irving learns there may be more to Miriam's disappearance than he thought, he enlists the services of Hakim and Arnold. Their investigation takes them into the world of Barking Park Fair and the secrets its brightly coloured attractions conceal. Secrets that lead them not just back to a crime committed in 1963 but to the chaotic world of post-war Europe, where few people were what they seemed.