Back in Rome after their dramatic adventures in Venice, Costa, Peroni and Leo Falcone are rebuilding their lives. But they team up once again when faced with the sudden appearance of fresh bloodstains on a missing young boy's T-shirt in a small museum exhibit displaying supposed evidence of communication from souls in Purgatory.

Soon they find themselves embroiled in a mystery involving both the ancient cult of Mithras and a sinister ossuary, the House of Bones . . .

Praise for David Hewson's previous novels:

'Better written and more sophisticated than Dan Brown's phenomenal bestseller . . . great stuff!' Washington Post

'Built with pleasing symmetry . . . Hewson can dress a stage with operatic panache, and here his mise-en-scene is spectacular . . . In the previous books the killings, despite their savagery, have theatrical flair and are put to vivid use in fascinating lectures on Italian art and history' New York Times

`Elegant . . . The novel seems headed for Dan Brown territory, but Hewson's clever puzzle remains just that, a tantalizing challenge . . . solid writing and multidimensional characters command attention from start to finish of this smart, literate thriller' Publishers Weekly