2012 marks the centenary of the birth of novelist and poet Lawrence Durrell, one of the leading writers of the post-war years. Born in India and resident at various times in England, Greece, Egypt, Cyprus and France, Durrell was a cosmopolitan, whose work was greatly influence by the Mediterranean places and cultures he experienced.
The first message sent to Tom Thorne's phone was just a picture - the blurred image of a man's face, but Thorne had seen enough dead bodies to know that the man was no longer alive. But who was he? Who sent the photograph? And why? While the technical experts attempt to trace the sender, Thorne searches the bulletins for a reported death that matches the photograph. Then another picture arrives.