Meet middle-aged bookseller Kyle in the London flat he shares with a Hindu family; meet his flatmate, the beautiful enticing Mallika who flirts when her husband is away, and even when his back is turned. Kyle is obsessed with her, and he is not alone. Janice, his ex, is sending him a stream of vindictive emails. Kyle needs a break. He turns to his other obsession: Ernest Hemingway.
In Cuba Kyle visits the writer's old haunts: the Ambos Mundos Hotel, the Finca Vigia, Cojimar and the Floridita bar. He has a fling with a British woman tourist and searches for the home his great-uncle owned in the 1950s. He is stunned to discover an unknown branch of his family. The next shock is a lot less pleasant. His new lover's partner plunges to his death - and Kyle finds himself suspected of murder. Cuba has capital punishment - death by firing squad. Kyle has worked in trouble spots around the world and now needs all his experience - for he's made an enemy of the lead detective, a thoroughly unpleasant hombre who has learned plenty of dirty tricks from the old KGB instructors.
Back in England Kyle encounters more trouble in Brighton. At home there are changes afoot: the Asian family is soon to leave. Mallika now treats him as a low-caste pariah. Is she serious or playing another of her teasing games? With time running out it seems his obsession will never reach fulfilment. Then he and Mallika find themselves alone one evening. But her other admirer and Janice still have hands to play.