The beautiful light-haired, blue-eyed Sylvia Bailey -- married at 19, and already a widow at 25 -- is enjoying life on her own in Paris. She even carries with her a symbol of the freedom she feels: a string of pearls -- a superb necklace she wears nearly everywhere she goes . . . Yet those pearls will take her to the brink of disaster -- and propel her new, dear friend well beyond! Lowndes (1868-1947), sister to Hilaire Belloc, wrote both historical novels and murder mysteries, with The Chink in the Armor ranking among her finest.