The dark and suffocating tragedy of Roman Volf’s life will trap his descendants for years to come…

Phineas Fox is researching the life of a scandalous musician from the past. Roman Volf was a Russian violinist, whose glittering talent was undermined by his crime – assassinating a Tsar. Investigating Volf's life and execution leads Phin to Ireland and into a series of intriguing, interlocking mysteries that reach back from Volf’s time into the present day.

Little does Phin know that his research may become life-saving, especially when he encounters Maxim Volf – a descendant of the violinist, who has a tragic story all his own. If only Maxim could remember what happened on that idle afternoon, where so many lives were shattered and so many dark secrets were kept hidden behind the façade of a quiet Irish village.