The “Diva” of the novel is singer Clarisse Dufresne, whose voice sounds just like that of famous pop star Sheila Lewis. When Sheila dies under puzzling circumstances, Clarisse is approached by agents of a shadowy international crime syndicate with a proposition: “What if it was discovered that Sheila had left behind some unmixed tracks of songs she had been working on before she died but hadn’t released? What do you think a find like that would be worth?”

Clarisse refuses to participate in the fraud and when her life is endangered, is rescued by a mysterious man named Maurice Crevier, who conceals both his face and his intentions behind a black obsidian mask. But her supposed savior soon becomes Clarisse’s tormentor when she learns that she is not his guest as he professes, but his prisoner.

Despite it all--and against her better judgment--Clarisse feels a growing fascination and affection for her jailer, as well as his odd henchmen--a voodoo-practicing Haitian and a young chef who is haunted by the ghost of her mother. Then a second attempt is made on Clarisse’s life. And a third.

This novel is immensely fun but is not easily classified; It could be called a “gothic suspense romantic thriller crime novel” featuring gun battles, sword fights, dungeons, secret passageways, ghosts, smoky jazz joints, ancient ex-Nazi torturers, voodoo, crime lords and more.