Vienna, 1903. In St Florian's military school, a young cadet is found dead—his body lacerated with razor wounds. Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt calls on his friend Doctor Max Liebermann to help with the investigation. In the closed society of the school, power is everything. Suspicion falls on an elite group of cadets, with a penchant for sadism and dangerous games. But when it is discovered that the dead boy was a frequent guest of the deputy headmaster's attractive young wife, other motives for murder suggest themselves...
