Richard Gould was looking forward to his retirement, to spending at least part of his time in the heritage home he had renovated in a quiet village in Ontario, and particularly to his major project—bringing a ruin back to its former glory as a flour mill. The discovery of two old books hidden in the ruin promised to add extra spice to this project, until he was drawn into events that were at first odd, then ominous, and all too soon lethal. Inexorably, Gould was carried deeper into a dangerous web and finally to a murderous encounter near the historic German city of Heidelberg.