Rome, AD 664. Wighard, archbishop-designate of Canterbury, is found strangled in the Lateran Palace shortly after arriving to receive papal confirmation. Valuable religious objects have vanished from his rooms, and the Roman authorities believe the theft identifies the murderer. Fidelma, in the city after the Synod of Whitby, is asked to test that convenient conclusion.
Her investigation leads through the political and ecclesiastical factions surrounding the papal court, where the appointment to Canterbury has consequences far beyond a single English diocese. As another death raises the stakes, Fidelma and Eadulf must trace the missing objects and uncover why Wighard's mission made him dangerous to people who appear to be serving the same church.