If people would only stop trying to kill him, Halvar the Dane might finally manage to do what he was sent to the island of Manatas to do-get the fugitive Leon di Vicenza on a boat back to Al-Andalus. And he didn't intend to kill two people before breakfast in the process. However, once again murder and intrigue immerse the calif's Hireling in more trouble than he ever wanted; and before he learns who murdered the pawnbroker, the mystery will take enough twists and turns to make a good man dizzy.