Young Doug Pearce, just fired from his steady job in the brewery, has never strayed far from home. But he's always been fascinated by stories of his dead Uncle Russ, the family black sheep. So when an old friend of his uncle invites him to Toronto, he accepts. On arrival, he learns that wealthy and glamorous Edna has an agenda: she has assembled enough clues to solve the murder of Russell Pearce and to recover a legendary red diamond he was thought to be smuggling.

Doug, nervous but game, jets off to Morocco to play detective, but by the end of his first day in Casablanca, he knows he's made a mistake. From Morocco to Singapore, whether escaping across rooftops, ducking bullets in a high-speed chase, or killing time in a crowded Egyptian jail, Doug is sure of one thing: he has no clue what he's doing.