At the end of 1918, forced to flee England, Russell and Holmes enter British-occupied Palestine under the auspices of Holmes' enigmatic brother, Mycroft. A rash of murders there seems unrelated to the growing tensions between Jew, Moslem and Christian, yet Holmes is adamant that he must reconstruct the most recent one in the desert gully where it occurred. Their singular findings will lead Holmes and Russell through labyrinthine bazaars, verminous hovels, cliff-hung monasteries -- and into mortal danger. In the jewel-like city of Jerusalem, they at last meet their adversary, whose lust for power could reduce the city's most ancient and sacred landmark to rubble...