It is summer & as tourists drawn by the legend of a priceless missing artifact disembark on the sun-drenched quay of Mithros the languid calm of the island is broken by the unorthodox arrival of a stranger who has been thrown overboard in the bay. Lacking money or identification he is forced for a while to remain on Mithros. But is he truly a stranger? To some his face seems familiar. The arrival of the investigator Hermes Diaktoros intrigued himself by the islands fabled bull coincides with a violent & mysterious death. This violence has an echo in Mithross recent past: in a brutal unsolved crime committed several years before which although apparently forgotten may not yet have been forgiven. As Hermes sets about solving the complex puzzle of who is guilty & who is innocent he discovers a web of secrets & unspoken loyalties & it soon becomes clear that the bull of Mithros may only be the least of the islands shadowy mysteries.