British expatriate and freelance arms and intelligence broker Paul Chavasse must take a dangerous path when he finds himself in a deadly race to recover a priceless religious artifact, the Madonna of Scutari, before the communist government of Albania can destroy it.
In Venice, Frances Croy is working to leave the previous year behind: another novel published to little success, a scathing review she can't quite manage to forget, and, most of all, the real reason behind her self-imposed exile from London: the incident at the Savoy. Sequestered within an aging palazzo, Frankie finds comfort in the emptiness of Venice in winter, in the absence of others. And then Gilly appears.
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