Chopin's Move, a tale of spies and flies, interweaves the fates of Chopin, entomologist and recalcitrant secret agent with a talent for turning bugs into "bugs"; Oswald, a young foreign-affairs employee who vanishes en route to his new home; Oswald's wife, Suzy, who gets enmeshed in a tangle of deceit and counterdeceit (in part through her own relations with Chopin); the mysterious Colonel Seck, whose motivations are never quite what they seem; and a typically Echenozian supporting cast of neurotic bodyguards, disquieting functionaries, and crafty double-agents. As the plot thickens, the characters become embroiled in layer upon layer of deception and double-dealing, leading them further into a world in which nothing can be taken at face value, and in which "reality" hinges on apparently harmless coincidence.