An Englishwoman is found dead in a house near Rome, her neck broken. Her distraught husband enlists the help of his closest friend, policeman Chris Bronson, who discovers an ancient inscription on a slab of stone above their fireplace. It translates as ‘Here Lie the Liars.’ Pursued across Europe, Bronson and his ex-wife uncover a trail of clues that lead them back to the shadowy beginnings of Christianity; to an ancient code inscribed upon a stone; to a chalice decorated with mysterious symbols. And to a deadly conspiracy which will rock the foundations of our modern world if revealed.**From Publishers WeeklyA British detective faces down the combined forces of the Mafia and the Vatican in Becker's jaw-dropping thriller. Tunbridge Wells Det. Sgt. Chris Bronson is helping his best friend, Mark Hampton, deal with the sudden death of Mark's wife, Jackie. Her supposedly accidental fatal fall at their house in Ponticelli, Italy, was caused by intruders seeking an ancient Latin inscription revealed during remodeling, the first clue to locating a scroll and diptychs that describe the crucifixion and beheading of two unnamed Jews in A.D. 67. Mafioso Gregori Mandino wants to find and destroy the relics, and he pressures Joseph Cardinal Vertutti to help. After Mafia hit men target Mark, Chris seeks vengeance and answers with the help of his ex-wife, a British Museum conservator. Fast-paced action propels the imaginative and controversial plot.(Mar.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Review"Utterly spellbinding. The plot is stunning and breathtaking and leaves you racing to the end... A truly amazing book. If you read nothing else this year, you must get hold of this."*—Euro Crime"Exciting... fast paced and filled with non-stop action."—Genre Go Round Reviews—*