While the body of a disgruntled artist is being fished out of the public art gallery's ornamental moat Murray Whelan is in the undergrowth having a romantic encounter with the delicious Salina Fleet. Whelan, political spin doctor and artless lover, goes in search of the big picture - to ensure there'll be no fallout for his boss, but in the process stumbles upon a scam to swindle the taxpayer, a forgery racket and a trio of beautiful women. As he's drawn ever deeper into a horribly tangled web, his childhood nemesis lurks menacingly on the edge of the action and the body count keeps on rising . . .