In the ruins on the outskirts of Gaza a young female archaeologist has made a remarkable find: possibly the earliest known image of the Virgin Mary, created during her lifetime. Before she can reveal her find to the world, it is stolen from her in a brutal assault amidst the chaos of an Israeli airstrike. Who has stolen the image and why? What dark hidden secret did it conceal? With her former lover, an Oxford professor, she sets out on a dangerous quest to some of the holiest sites in Christendom, from the plains of Bavaria to the mountains of central Spain and to a neglected temple in the heart of London. In a gripping tale of murder, myth, treason and geopolitics, together they uncover a web of conspiracy, cover-ups and interlinked religion that dates back to the last pagan Roman emperor, and perhaps to the very origins of life on earth. Astonishingly well researched, this is an enthralling and challenging yarn.