A game of blackmail and betrayal is played among the backstreets and canals of Venice . . .

Carnevale is in full swing, the streets and waterways of Venice are crowded with masked revellers and Nathan Sutherland's birthday is about to be ruined.

A night at the opera at La Fenice is always a memorable experience - and this time it will be so for all the wrong reasons as the curtain call is interrupted by a fatal stabbing. But why is the dead man carrying one of Nathan's business cards in his wallet?

The mystery of the murdered stranger takes Nathan on the trail of a lost opera by Monteverdi. But what begins as a harmless treasure hunt leads to ruthless criminals asking the highest of prices for the lost score... and then a second body is found in the sanctuary of Venice's English church.

The quest for the lost manuscript will bring Nathan back to the stage of La Fenice, where a final confrontation has deadly consequences...