In
Victorian England
, Joseph Stapleton, 1st Viscount Barringon, has died unexpectedly, leaving his nineteen-year-old son, Robert, to inherit his title, estate, family business, and a curious collection of ancient and contemporary male erotica. Eager to discover more about his father's carefully hidden passion, Robert retraces his travels to
London
,
Paris
, and
Rome
, discovering, first to his dismay and then to his great relief, that he and his father are attracted to men in the same way. But then Robert goes a step too far and uncovers clues that his father - and one of his prize
objets d'art
- may have been involved in a grisly murder. Worse, Robert's new domineering lover, Fabrizio, may have been the murderer.