At the pool-side, the evening breeze is fragrant with the scent of grilled lobster and designer sun-block. Two German girls in starched white uniforms, buttoned up as tight as barbie dolls, are serving champagne to the guests. Dave Leaper sips his drink and dreams of death and vengeance.

At a clinic in Southern Europe a group of young film-makers are recreating the songs, the slogans and the idealism of the years of revolution, while an old man, mummified by wealth and power, watches them and pays the bills. He pays and pays, missing nothing. Flirting at the Funeral is a story about love, money, and lost opportunities, ranging across Europe against a background of financial crisis, terrorism and the power of the super-rich.