Tawcester Towers is the ancestral seat of the Dukes of Tawcester, and home to sleuthing duo Blotto and Twinks, or Devereux and Honoria Lyminster to give them their real names.  Both attractive, they differ in that Blotto is not exactly overly-endowed with intelligence, unlike his clever sister.  They are entertaining the ex-royal family of Mitteluropia when a body is found in the library. Thus starts an extraordinary adventure involving an evil usurper, identical twins, a chase across Europe and of course a beautiful ex-princess.

P. G. Wodehouse never turned his hand to detective fiction, but if he had done so, he might well have done something a little like this.  He would have done it many times better, of course, as he is an acknowledged writer of classic fiction, but since he didn't, Simon Brett has decided to do it instead.  This is very much a comedy first and a detective novel second, as just about everything which happens in it can very easily be guessed.  I felt that this was rather a pity, rather like the frequent reminders that Blotto is very stupid (note to author: you have shown, so no need to tell) and Twinks very clever.  At the end of the book I was left thinking I would have enjoyed it more if at least one surprise had been included in the story but this is only the first in a series.  As a P. G. Wodehouse fan, I will no doubt be reading the next one to see what happens next.