Claudia Seferius is broke. Skint. Borassic. Cleaned out. Bust, and on her uppers. So when her teenage stepdaughter Flavia is abducted, Claudia can't just throw money at the problem. The cash simply isn't there - since her husband died, his fellow businessmen have banded together to freeze her out of trade. And the frustratingly delectable Orbilio can't help - he's been placed under strict house arrest after a skeleton was found walled up in the house that's been in his family for three generations. Now, with the Games of Apollo, a series of festivals and frolics, feasting and tomfoolery, due to start in two days, Claudia has saddled herself with the job of playing tag with the kidnapper. Meanwhile, mysterious Egyptian cult the Brothers of Horus is growing in popularity with Roman citizens. But several of its young female members are beginning to experience strange disturbances...