An ancient manuscript and the hidden bones of St. Thomas Becket lead a historian into unexpected danger.

Praise for Mary Malloy's work:"A tour de force—fascinating, highly readable, and meticulously researched."—Nathaniel Philbrick"Meticulously researched and engagingly written."—Seattle Times"In the tradition of Byatt's Possession, Malloy's debut novel is a complex and masterfully woven tale that will keep readers up far into the night."—Caroline Preston, author of Jackie by Josie and Gatsby's GirlHistorian Lizzie Manning didn't set out to become a sleuth, and she had no intention of becoming personally involved in a medieval mystery. Her expertise lay in eighteenth-century maritime voyages, and her assignment was to find a Tlingit Indian corpse robbed from its grave two hundred years ago during Captain Cook's Pacific voyage. First accident, then compulsion, pull her deeper into the past, through thirty generations of one British family. Lizzie's sources aren't fingerprints and firearms, but...

Creating an exhibition for her college, Lizzie discovers connections to an Italian prince with a family collection from the Renaissance. In Bologna, Lizzie finds ancient alligators, master paintings, unicorn tusks, and rarities from around the globe in a “cabinet of curiosities." The mummified occupant of a sarcophagus draws her into a mystery that reaches from ancient Egypt to WWII Italy.