Sheldon prides himself on doing careful research for the background of his novels. He had direct experience with the Army Air Corps and read accounts of the wartime RAF. His knowledge of filmmaking is helpful also as he shows Catherine and Larry working together on propaganda films.

Like Catherine, he studied at Northwestern University. The author is much more skillful in providing authentic settings than he is in making his plots and characters believable. He knows Chicago, his birthplace, London, Paris, and Athens as well. His professional life kept him busy in Los Angeles for many years.

The principal characters are introduced effectively in the Prologue. Everyone who has known Larry Douglas, and particularly Noelle Page, gather in Athens to see them on trial for murder.

The trial itself shows the dramatic skills Sheldon developed while he was writing and producing screen plays, Broadway shows, and television series...