Published posthumously, this book is an anthology of three novellas featuring the world's best-known secret agent, James Bond.

In the first story, "Octopussy," the legendary 007 is sent to Jamaica to deal with a rather odd Englishman. Major Dexter Smythe is a proper fellow living in the lap of luxury, but his fondness for eight-legged creatures has resulted in a dangerous experiment that will put Bond in a precarious position.

Bond's mission in "The Living Daylights" is to neutralize the KGB sniper, code-named Trigger, whose assignment is to prevent an important Russian official from defecting. M sends 007 to West Berlin to safeguard Agent 272, but can Bond kill the sniper in time? Trigger is one of Fleming's most tantalizing villains—a shadowy figure who Bond and the listener glimpse but never meet.

"The Property of a Lady" finds Bond at an auction tracking down an exotic objet d'art and a deceptive woman.