For Marcus Didius Falco, agent to the Emperor Vespasian, Alexandria holds fascination and a hint of fear. Beautiful, historic and unruly, the great cosmopolitan city wears Roman rule lightly. While his wife, Helena Justina, wants to see the Lighthouse and the Pyramids, Falco has a mission at the Great Library. A death there brings him into conflict with the darker side of academic life. To solve the crime Falco will have to draw on his own doggedness and intuition, supported by Helena and her brother Aulus. Another death follows, this time at the royal zoo. Falco's original mission is overshadowed by the machinations of his Uncle Fulvius, who is living in Alexandria with his partner Cassius. Their involvement in local affairs already seems shady when they are joined by their crony, Falco's father, Geminus, a man well known for disreputable business practices. If the irrepressile Pa has had any hand in what has gone wrong at the Library, Falco knows he stands no chance.