"The Moon Moth by Jack Vance is a short story first published in 1961 set in an alien society on the planet Sirene. It remains to his fans, his most popular story. The story has our hero, Edwin Thissel, a consul newly arrived from Earth who has been ordered to stop an assassin, Haxo Angmark, and his detective work in unmasking the murderer. It combines sci-fi, a murder mystery and the intricacies of society culture formalities involving the wearing of elaborate masks that determine your status and communication through song and the playing of instruments...get it wrong and you could end up dead."--Publisher's website.