Lewis Cole's friend Jon Ericson has spent years studying the history of their small New Hampshire town, convinced that it was once a Viking settlement. When Lewis gets a phone message from Jon saying that he's finally found the evidence to prove it, he hurries right over. When he reaches Jon's house, however, Lewis discovers a crime scene. In the brief time since Jon left that message, someone has murdered him. Lewis's suspicions immediately turn to Jon's estranged brother, an antiques dealer who sometimes sold Jon's finds and thought Jon should have spent his time looking for more profitable relics than the likes of Viking coins. As Lewis tries to learn the truth and recover the relic Jon claimed to have found, he confronts a strange collection of contacts Jon made over the course of his investigations. In the process, he must turn to an old friend of somewhat dubious profession for help and untangle a knotted web of frustrated dreams, ambition, jealousy, and anger.