It had been kept hidden for centuries, in readiness for a time of need.

But not hidden well enough, it seems. One night in July in 1937, it vanished – its disappearance swallowed up in the storm clouds of the war that was about to engulf the world . . .

In 1941, twelve of Himmler’s most trusted generals gather at a grim castle in Eastern Prussia. They have been chosen to re-enact an ancient rite steeped in blood. At its heart is a pentagram formed by five swords. One of them is King Arthur’s mythical Excalibur . . .

Seventy years later, and art recovery expert Jamie Saintclair laughs in disbelief as he reads the codex to a German war veteran’s will, the strange ritual it describes and the mention of a sword named Excalibur. But obsessive collector Adam Steele is convinced – and if Saintclair can trace the legendary blade, he will pay a small fortune for it . . .

The search for an artefact that might not even exist leads Saintclair into a dangerous hinterland where the loyalties and hatreds of the past live on, and the line between fanaticism and madness is gossamer thin. As the last piece of the puzzle falls into place, it becomes clear that some mysteries should be left unsolved . . .