Entombed with its creator for almost 200 years, together with the secret formula of how Stradivari created such masterpieces; the lost Stradivarius violin is discovered, only to be lost again, until it surfaces in Nazi-occupied Europe, where it is hidden away. Bad luck has befallen everyone who has possessed it, and a quirk of fate draws a brilliant young British virtuoso into the desperate search to recover the lost violin.This intoxicating thriller weaves effortlessly between countries from beginning to end encompassing the world of classical music, stolen art, and historical fact. The reader is transported through the streets of modern-day Moscow, and the hidden mysteries of China, to the old Jewish East End of London. Powerful, wealthy industrialists are ruthlessly competing to claim for their own the lost Stradivarius, rumoured to be the ultimate instrument, more powerful and beautiful than the famous Messiah.