The story begins as three men, Brown, Smith, an "innocent" American, and Major H. O. Jones, a confidence man, meet on a ship bound for Haiti. Brown, Smith, and Jones, their names suggesting a curious facelessness, are the "comedians" of Greene's title. Complications include Brown's friendship with a rebel leader, politically charged hotel guests and an affair with Martha Pineda, the wife of a South American ambassador. The setting for much of the novel, the Hotel Trianon, was inspired by the Hotel Oloffson in central Port-au-Prince.