Larkwood Priory, England: Father Anselm is stopped by an old man. What he is asked, should a man do when the world has turned against him? Anselm's response: claim sanctuary. But the answer sets off more trouble than he could ever have imagined - for the man returns, demanding the protection of the Church. He is Eduard Schwermann, a suspected Nazi war criminal.

With her life running out, Agnes Embleton has unburdened a secret to her granddaughter, Lucy. Fifty years earlier, as Agnes Aubret, she had lived in occupied Paris, risking her life to smuggle Jewish children to safety, until her group, The Round Table, was exposed by an SS officer: Eduard Schwermann.

It emerges that not only has the Church granted Schwermann sanctuary before, but in 1944, it helped him escape from France to begin a new life in Britain. As Anselm attempts to find out why and as Lucy delves deeper into her grandmother's past, their investigations dovetail to form a remarkable story.