This ninth volume of The Flashman Papers finds that history s most unheroic hero Sir Harry Flashman is back in India where his saga began. This time our hero is sent by Her Majesty s Secret Service to spy on the corrupt court of Lahore on India s Northwest Frontier. Flashy deals with a ravishing maharini and her equally sex-hungry maid joins forces with an American adventurer with royal ambitions and attempts to win the brightest jewel in England s imperial crown at the cost of something he will never miss--namely his honor.