"Simon Tolkien's grandfather is J. R. R., but his new novel" -a historical locked room mystery -- "owes more to Agatha Christie -- and Dan Brown." (New York Times).

When a famed Oxford historian is found dead in his study one night, all evidence points to his son, Stephen. About to be disinherited from the family fortune, Stephen returns to home after a long estrangement -- and it happens to be the night his father is shot to death. When his fingerprints are found on the murder weapon, Stephen's guilt seems undeniable. But there were five other people in the manor house at the time, and as their stories slowly emerge -- along with the revelation that the deceased man was involved in a deadly hunt for a priceless relic in Northern France at the end of World War II -- the race is on to save Stephen from a death sentence.

Everyone has a motive, and no one is telling the truth.

Unwilling to sit by and watch the biased judge condemn Stephen to death, an aging police inspector decides to travel from England to France to find out what really happened in that small French village in 1945 -- and what artifact could be so valuable it would be worth killing for.

"Absolutely compelling." -- Booklist, starred review

"A thinking person's Da Vinci Code." -- Chicago Tribune

"A deft combination of Agatha Christie manor-house whodunit, Erle Stanley Gardner courtroom drama and Dan Brown thriller. Tolkien... proves himself worthy -- and then some -- of his literary pedigree." -- Richmond Times Dispatch

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