A vicious robbery at a secluded Brighton mansion leaves its elderly occupant dying. Valuables worth millions have been stolen. But as Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, heading the inquiry, rapidly learns, there is one priceless item of sentimental value that her powerful family cherishes above all else. And they are prepared to take the law into their own hands, and will do anything--absolutely anything--to get it back. Within days, Grace is racing against the clock, following a murderous trail that leads him from the shady antiques world of Brighton, across Europe, and all the way back to the New York waterfront gang struggles of 1922.