West End theatre impresario Septimus Gooch is a man with many enemies, but when he's found dead in his leading lady's dressing-room the police put it down to an accident.
The cast of Septimus's latest musical production at the Jollity Theatre are having none of it, however-this is the second mysterious death in two months, and they're convinced Septimus died after being frightened out of his wits by the ghost that's haunted the theatre ever since it burned to the ground many years ago. A malevolent spirit is on the loose, striking them down one by one. Which of them will be next?
Press-man Freddy Pilkington-Soames was backstage at the Jollity on the night Septimus died. He doesn't believe in ghosts, but he knows a suspicious death when he sees one-and when a third person dies there's no doubt this time that a human hand was behind it.
Freddy's fending off the attentions of several chorus-girls at once, so has his own distractions to contend with. But murder's no joke, and he'll do anything he can to catch the killer before the whole production falls apart.
After all, the show must go on.