Julia is a young art expert in Madrid. Her specialty is the restoration of paintings about to go up for auction. But her latest project could also be her last. A fifteenth-century masterpiece, the painting depicts a chess game between the Duke of Ostenburg and his knight, as a lady in black velvet sits in the background. What makes this project different is the hidden inscription Julia discovers in the corner: Quis necavit equitem. Translation: Who killed the Knight? And the answer could kill Julia.

Breaking the silence of five centuries, Julia’s hunt for the Renaissance murderer leads her into a modern-day game of sin, betrayal, and death — every move calculated with deadly precision. But as the stakes begin to rise and piece after piece is removed from the board, Julia finds herself exposed…and vulnerable to attack from everywhere. Unsure whether she too is a player or just a pawn, all she knows for certain is that her passion for art has made her an object of deadly obsession.