Emily Burel, a PhD, scientist and adventurer who works out of Sydney University, is head hunted by Security Agent Andreas Doratis, for Michael Westlake of the British Museum, and Marie de Becque from Le Musee du Louvre in Paris. De Becque believes she has evidence proving that a model for the Pieta was a woman from the Orient who lived with Michelangelo as his mistress. Burel, accepting the challenge to find the truth of this claim, begins her investigation at a monastery in the Swiss Alps. She is neither alone nor safe in her search though, as others from Europe, Asia and Africa follow dangerously close behind her, looking for answers, and rewards, of their own.