Set against the Gezi Park uprising of 2013, this is the 17th crime thriller featuring Inspectors Cetin Ikmen and Mehmut Suleyman in Istanbul

Istanbul - in antiquity, called the Land of the Blind - is a city where old and new collide, and the fallout can be deadly...

In the ruins of the Constantinople hippodrome lies a body: a woman, clutching a piece of red stone. She's recently given birth, but there's no sign of the baby. Inspector ÇetinIkmendiscovers she was Ariadne Savva, a Byzantine specialist on a crusade to protect the historic areas of Istanbul that property developer Ahmet Öden seeks to destroy and rebuild.

As Ikmensearches for the lost child and the facts behind Ariadne's death, the people of Istanbul rise up in protest against their government in Gezi Park. Amid the chaos, Ikmenand his colleague Mehmet Süleymanmust unravel a tale of ancient hostility and modern desires, to find the truth concealed within the secret history of their antique city.

"Ever topical, with her finger on the pulse of modern Turkey, Barbara Nadel's latest Inspector Ikmen novel takes place to a backdrop of the Gezi Park protests...gripping...fast-paced" - Today’s Zaman

"'There's no one quite like Nadel... Seamlessly weaving together so many diverse threads is the work of a master with her finger firmly on the city's pulse... Gripping'" - Big Issue (Istanbul)