Istanbul - in antiquity, called the Land of the Blind - is a city where old and new collide, and the fallout can be deadly... In the ruins of the Constantinople hippodrome lies a body: a woman, clutching a piece of red stone. She's recently given birth, but there's no sign of the baby. Inspector Cetin Ikmen discovers she was Ariadne Savva, a Byzantine specialist on a crusade to protect the historic areas of Istanbul that property developer Ahmet Oden seeks to destroy and rebuild. As Ikmen searches for the lost child and the facts behind Ariadne's death, the people of Istanbul rise up in protest against their government in Gezi Park. Amid the chaos, Ikmen and his colleague Mehmet Suleyman must unravel a tale of ancient hostility and modern desires, to find the truth concealed within the secret history of their antique city.