Fifteen-year-old Tom lives in the murky, sooty city of London, where he helps his father to run a print shop Among the customers is wise old Dr Harker, a retired physician and seafarer, whose patient demeanor and fascinating tales endear him to Tom When Tom and Harker hear a newspaper seller announce a most curious murder in the city, with the victim pierced by an arrow and left holding an illustrated card of 'Death and the Arrow', they are both intrigued by the mystery As subsequent 'Death and the Arrow' victims are discovered, the mystery closes ever more tightly round the city and intrudes even into Tom's own life From then onwards, he can't rest till he has discovered the truth behind the murders