The main character of the novel is Inspector Alan Grant of Scotland Yard, who, after breaking his leg, is temporarily confined to bed. Suffering from idleness, Grant—an enthusiast of reading character traits from photographs—decided to study the reproductions brought to him by his friend, Martha Hallard, of portraits of people connected to some sort of secret. Among them, what attracts him is an image of King Richard III, whose fame in history is that of a villain, a tyrant, a despot, and the murderer of his nephews—Princes Edward and Richard. Deeply intrigued by the fact that the psychological image created by the portraits does not match the image history has formed, he sets out to find out whether Richard is indeed guilty of the crimes attributed to him…