A Discworld novel of dwarfs, diplomacy, intrigue and big lumps of fat.
Sam Vimes is a man on the run. Yesterday he was a duke, a chief of police and the ambassador to the mysterious, fat-rich country of Überwald. Now he has nothing but his native wit and the gloomy trousers of Uncle Vanya (don't ask). It's snowing. It's freezing. And if he can't make it through the forest to civilization there's going to be a terrible war. But there are monsters on his trail. They're bright. They're fast. They're werewolves – and they're catching up. Sam Vimes is out of time, out of luck and already out of breath...
The story also contains a locked room mystery. Almost every fictional detective used to get lumbered with one of these in his or her career, some, like Ellery Queen seemed to trip over them almost weekly. This time it's Vimes' turn. The situation isn't helped by the fact that this is, as Sam works out almost at once, "A locked room where they left the bloody door open!"
