In 1939, the Saint Louis sails into Havana with Jewish refugees seeking asylum. From the docks, nine-year-old Daniel Kaminsky watches as the as his parents are kept on the vessel. But the Kaminskys have a treasure that they hope will save them: a Rembrandt portrait of Christ. Inspector Conde is back to investigate the story of this lost painting.

Leonardo Padura was born in Havana in 1955. A novelist, journalist, and critic, he is the author of several novels, one collection of essays, and a volume of short stories. His Havana series crime novels featuring the detective Mario Conde have been translated into many languages and have won literary prizes around the world. The Man Who Loved Dogs, his monumental historical novel, was greeted as?a brilliant, multi-layered examination of 20th-century history" by the Times