Two conspirators are sentenced to be hanged. The rope breaks twice for each conspirator and they are taken to a monastery while the authorities decide what to do next. The body of one of them is found in a cistern. Who killed him, thwarting the Emperor who was inclined to show clemency? John the Eunuch is ordered to investigate.

John's investigation kept my interest, but the background detail was disappointing. The Nika riots seemed more of an inconvenient obstacle that hampered John than the terrifying events they must have been. ( )