Bored with life in Toronto, attractive young Priscilla Tempest left Canada for London, where she’s serving as press officer at the famed Savoy Hotel. Her title might as well be Miss Fix-it, since she’s the one who’s called to deal with all sorts of problems, from hungover guests to temperamental actors who refuse to rehearse. Her current emergency, however, literally has her name on it, since a dead man has been found in a car in front of the hotel clutching a note to “my darling Priscilla.” Author Base treats Priscilla like Agatha Christie’s indispensable Lucy Eyelesbarrow in 4:50 From Paddington, a comparison encouraged by the key supporting role Dame Agatha plays in the press officer’s adventure. Priscilla deals competently with random inquiries from members of the public and props up the fragile egos of stars like Rex Harrison and Marlene Dietrich, who are currently squabbling their way through the Savoy Theatre’s production of Witness for the Prosecution. But despite Base’s frequent reminders of Priscilla’s comeliness, his protagonist is not especially appealing. Her attitude toward the wives of the many men she beds is dismissive. She’s contemptuous of Phoebe, her plain-Jane sister, whose sole sexual conquest is a lowly car salesman and Priscilla’s ex-fiancé to boot. She isn’t particularly effective as a press officer, since she’s ignorant of basic journalistic customs, like the need to fact-check information before publishing it. And as a sleuth, she’s extremely gullible, accepting suspects’ stories at face value. She does manage to solve the case, although most readers won’t be able to, since the solution to the mystery is in The Red Umbrella, a book that doesn’t exist.