It's August, AD 81. Presumed dead by their families but wanted by unknown authorities, Flavia and her friends feel very far from home.

News of more kidnappings in Italia reach them, and when they discover one of Miriam's twins is among the missing, the four detectives set out for Halicarnassus in the Roman province of Asia.

Here they find the countryside is full of prophets who heal the sick and cure the lame - or are they merely tricksters and villains in disguise?

Once again, the detectives' loyalties are tested as they are confronted with hopes for the future and grim legacies of the past ...