An Arnold Landon mystery After Arnold Landon's professional expertise is called into question in the trial of Islwyn Evans, an antiques dealer charged with handling stolen goods, he is further humiliated when his boss Karen Stannard suggests he should undergo professional retraining. His consequent attendance at a conference in Rome leads him into the world of Roman grave robbers known as the tombaroli, and with his guide Carmela he stumbles upon a revenge killing in an ancient tomb in the Etruscan city of the dead. Back in Northumberland DCI O'Connor has his own problems: detailed to investigate the activities of an international smuggling ring dealing in ancient artefacts he finds himself attracted to the wife of a wealthy businessman and as his investigations proceed he faces a conflict between his personal life and his professional duties. Arnold is merely seeking to retrieve his reputation but the paths of the two men converge when a professional killer enters the country from Italy, to continue the revenge killings that had begun in the city of the dead. For both Arnold and O'Connor the solution lies in discovering the whereabouts of the missing antiques dealer.