When a monk is found poisoned at St. Emma's Priory, the Chief Constable - a friend of the Prior - insists that Andy Ross and his team handle the investigation.

The case turns out to be more complex than they first thought. After a second victim is found with a pitchfork thrust through his body, Ross discovers that to solve the case, they must reopen a cold case from years ago.

When connections to the old East German Secret Police - the Stasi - are revealed, Ross realizes that nothing is as it seems in The Mersey Monastery Murders.