Professor George Albert Fredrick Drummond has been living a double life full of contradictions for over forty years. Erudite student, professor, respected Edinburgh University department head, serial killer. Loyal son of God, supplicant of Satan.

Drummond is a collector of serial killer memorabilia, sequestered in a secret room under the stairs. He scares his housekeeper from going into the room to clean and his secret is safe, at least until his best friend and former student, suspecting something is amiss, makes his way into the small room where standing in a decorative Japanese umbrella stand, he comes across a collection of walking sticks containing swords the professor has been using to murder, disembowel and decapitate victims for most of a lifetime.

With a detective from England's (and one of the world's) greatest law enforcement departments, The National Crime Agency, hot on his trail, a thrilling chase through England, Japan, America's Big Apple and Napa Valley, ensues, while the international body count continues to rise, before the inevitable, yet surprising, end.