When a renowned archaeologist drowns in eighteen inches of water on a desolate Suffolk beach, his protégé refuses to accept the verdict of accidental death. Dr. Eleanor Croft brings her concerns to 221B Baker Street, along with her mentor's final letter-a cryptic warning about the discovery of an Anglo-Saxon burial ship.What Holmes and Watson find waiting on the windswept coast defies simple explanation: a treasure cache hidden for over a thousand years and a deadly secret concealed within the artifacts themselves. As rival archaeologists and ruthless treasure hunters converge on the site, the death toll begins to rise-but the killer may not be human at all.Holmes must untangle a web of academic ambition, international crime, and ancient chemistry before the corrosive power of the past claims more victims. For time transforms all things, and some treasures are poisonous long before greed corrupts those who seek them.