Gabrilis Kaloyeros is a bee-keeper on the beautiful Greek island of Arcadia. The ruined Temple of Apollo has been in his care for decades, and he has worked to protect it. But when crooked developers take over the island and the value of the land soars, he is persuaded through unscrupulous means to sign away his interest. Hours later he meets a violent, lonely death.

When detective Hermes Diaktoros finds his friend's battered body by a dusty roadside, the police quickly name him the prime suspect. But with rapacious developers threatening Arcadia 's most ancient sites, many stand to gain from Gabrilis's death. Hermes resolves to avenge his old friend and find the true culprit, but his methods are, as ever, unorthodox.

As in The Messenger of Athens, Anne Zouroudi tells a spellbinding mystery set in an enchanted place, where the myths of the ancient past intersect with the realities of contemporary life, with deadly results.