'I have lost everything in coming here. I have lost my friends... I have probably lost my position; I shall probably have to remove my child from the school and my mother from the house in which she lives. I do not think there is anything else I can possibly lose.'

Mercia Masson dressed stylishly and loved to host a party. She was a journalist in an era when there were few female journalists, she always wanted to be in the thick of things, and she knew people in very high places. She also led a dangerous double life.

This is the remarkable story of an ASIO agent who was hung out to dry. She was exposed at a royal commission called to investigate the extent of Soviet espionage in Australia, following the defection of Vladimir and Evdokia Petrov. Written in association with Mercia's daughter Cindy, this story brings to life a determined woman at the centre of dramatic events in Australian politics during the Cold War.