In India in the 1597, Thomas, a young English apothecary's apprentice, has been sent to collect rare herbs in Africa and India. During his travels, he encounters an alchemist who has possession of a mysterious powder that can restore life to the dead. But the captain of the ship on which Chinnery sails has piracy on his mind, rather than trade. And when they attack a small, rich ship fleeing the city of Goa, Thomas Chinnery is set on the path that will lead him through his darkest nightmares into the dungeons of the Inquisition and thence to the heart of ancient India.

In the second book of the trilogy, the Inquisition of Goa sends an expedition comprised of Father Gonso, apothecary Thomas Chinnery, Lady Aditi, and Andrew Lockhart in search of a mysterious powder, reputed to be the dried blood of a goddess, that can raise the dead

A young English apothecary's apprentice, sent to India and captured by the Inquisition, reclaims his freedom by pretending to know the source of a mysterious power called the Rasa Mahadevi, which can raise the dead