Fourteen-year-old chef and budding detective Neil Flambé helps the police in their investigation of the murders of some of the best chefs in town, a puzzle that seems to have something to do with a mysterious smell and Marco Polo.
When Neil arrives in Mexico City to partake in the Battle of the Chefs, he learns that Isabella has been kidnapped and it will take a dose of Aztec history and knowledge of buried ruins to find her before time runs out.