August 1945. As Victoria Teglia takes the train to Southampton, her home town, she can’t help but wonder what on earth she’s going to do next. She knows that her mother and stepfather will welcome her back to their hotel, The Langton, with open arms, but after the excitement of life in the Navy, Victoria is worried that she will find it hard to settle down. When she arrives, however, an exciting opportunity is all but handed to her on a plate – the chance to help reopen the club that her criminally-connected father ran before his death, with her Uncle George.

Ignoring her mother’s warnings about the club’s bad reputation, Victoria goes ahead, secure in the knowledge that George is now a reformed character and plans to run Club Valletta as a classy members-only joint. But Lily Langton can see trouble in her daughter’s future: for, once it is known that the daughter of the Maltese is involved in the ‘family’ business, who knows what will crawl out of the woodwork . . .