English Summary/英文概要： As manager of New York City’s finest luxury hotel The Beaumont, Pierre Chambrun is well acquainted with unreasonable requests from its patrons. When one of the rich rooftop suite owners demands the impossible for his annual birthday bash, Chambrun is unflustered; of course he can have exotic foods and flora flown in from all corners of the globe! No problem procuring the chorus of the Metropolitan Opera to sing "Happy Birthday!" No matter that birthday boy is the obnoxious and well-hated Aubrey Moon―a man who loves nothing better than destroying the lives of those who annoy him. Pierre is more than equal to the task.

But when a high-society call girl commits suicide in one of the Beaumont’s suites, Pierre learns she’d been under pressure to murder Moon. He also discovers that there is a "Moon Club" made up of people with good reasons to wish the man dead. When an anonymous big spender offers $10,000 to any club member able to exterminate the menace, Chambrun works with his chief of security and the NYPD to catch the mastermind before the plot―and Moon―are executed.

Awards/获奖情况： "This work has romance, pathos, and wit, not to mention suspense." ―Library Journal

"A high-concept romp."―Kirkus Reviews

His best-known characters were Pierre Chambrun, a sleuthing hotel manager who first appeared in The Cannibal Who Overate (1962), and the one-legged investigative reporter Peter Styles, introduced in Laughter Trap (1964). Although he spent his last years with failing vision and poor health, Philips continued writing daily. His final novel was the posthumously published Pattern for Terror (1989).