It is 1946, and after years of war, ex-Special Operations Executive agent Duncan Forrester is back at his Oxford college as a junior Ancient History Fellow. But his peace is shattered when a hated colleague is found dead, and his closest friend is arrested for the murder.Convinced that the police have the wrong man, and hearing rumours that the victim was in possession of a mysterious Viking saga, Forrester follows the trail of the manuscript from the ruins of Berlin to the forests of Norway, hoping that it is the key to the man's death. But he is not alone in his search, and he soon discovers that old adversaries are still at war...