Antoine Mouret, an authoritarian restaurateur, is the head of a large family where, for reasons of interest, people only marry cousins. But some have other plans, Marcus especially when he meets a passing circus girl.
The children born from a first marriage of a widower and a widower who have remarried do not get along. Frequent quarrels break out in the household which finally finds calm thanks to the presence of a new little girl.
On the verge of death, a man entrusts Inspector Burma with an address. Burma conducts a difficult investigation with many twists and turns, which takes him from Lyon to Paris, following in the footsteps of the members of a mysterious business firm.
