AN ANCIENT MYSTERY. A CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE. A SECRET TO KILL FOR.

The crypt of the Medici Chapel, Florence: palaeopathologist, Edie Granger, and her uncle, Carlin Mackenzie, examine the mummified remains of one of the most powerful families in Renaissance Italy.

Under the crisp skin, the organs have shrivelled to a fraction of their original size, meaning it is difficult to gather a usable DNA sample. Edie and Mackenzie both have serious doubts about the true identity of at least two of the five-hundred-year-old bodies.

And no one can explain the presence of an alien object discovered resting against Cosimo de Medici's spine.

For Carlin Mackenzie, this is the most fascinating and the most dangerous discovery of his life. For Edie, it is the beginning of an obsessive, life-threatening quest...