In the wealthy town of Ostia, Marcus Didius Falco appears to be enjoying a relaxing holiday But when his girlfriend, Helena, arrives carrying a batch of old copies of the Daily Gazette, Falco is forced to admit to Petronius his real reasons for being there Infamia, the pen name of the scribe who writes the gossip column for the Daily Gazette, has gone missing and his fellow scribes have employed Falco to find him However, Falco suspects that there is more to his absence than might first appear