A convivial gathering turns deadly when a guest is poisoned amid the clinking glasses, and it falls to the plump, brilliant Reggie Fortune to sift charm from menace and unmask a very civilised killer.

From H. C. Bailey, one of the most admired writers of the golden age, comes a sparkling case for Reggie Fortune, the amiable Home Office surgeon whose deceptively languid manner hides a razor intellect. The Bottle Party sets a fatal poisoning against the froth of a fashionable social occasion, testing Fortune's blend of medical insight and moral steel. Bailey's stories, celebrated for their wit and their compassion, helped define the short detective tale between the wars.