[2] Like several of Heyer's early novels including Regency Buck (1935) and The Corinthian (1940), The Talisman Ring blends the genres of romantic comedy and thriller.

On his deathbed, Lord Lavenham arranges a marriage between his great-nephew, Sir Tristram Shield, and his young French granddaughter, Eustacie de Vauban, who has escaped the revolutionary Reign of Terror by coming to England.

His grandson and heir, Ludovic, is on the run on the Continent after allegedly murdering a card sharp in a dispute over a valuable heirloom, the talisman ring.

She is travelling with her brother Sir Hugh, whom she persuades to stay by encouraging his belief that he has caught cold, for which the excellent French brandy hidden in its cellars is an effective cure.

Recognising Ludovic, Tristram leads the pursuers to believe that his cousin is a groom who had been shot while pursuing the smugglers and that he is one of Lord Lavenham's bastards to account for their resemblance.

Together with Sarah, now a loyal accomplice and Eustacie's self-appointed chaperone, they conclude that the murderer must be the foppish "Beau" Basil, Lord Lavenham's heir in the absence of Ludovic, and they hatch a plan to break into his home at the Dower House in search of the ring.

Recollecting that Gregg, his factotum, has spoken to the Excisemen, he asks about the appearance of the "bastard" and, realising who it really is, calls in the Bow Street Runners.

Tristram then calls in more intelligent Bow Street Runners and lays a trap for Basil who, while trying to escape, punches Miss Thane on the temple.