The setting is Athens in Ancient Greece. A young man called Tramachus goes hunting and is then discovered on the slopes of Mount Lycabettus with his insides torn out. Initially, it is believed he has been killed by a pack of wolves, but the reality is very different. Tramachus was a student at the Academy run by Plato, and Diagoras, his tutor, knows that his pupil was disturbed, and not fully taking in the teaching he was receiving. He also learns from Tramachus' friends that he was visiting a prostitute at the city's port. Diagoras goes to Heracles, known as the 'Decipherer of Enigmas', to discover the truth. And we learn there is another mystery. In the footnotes of The Athenian Murders a second story emerges, and the modern day translator finds a message hidden in the original narrative. It makes a wonderful double story of murder and mystery.