Prince Zaleski, an exiled Russian nobleman, inhabits a half-ruined abbey in Wales, where he spends most of his time smoking cannabis and opium, reading from his library of medieval books, or admiring his collection of rare curios dating from ancient antiquity. His retirement from the world is occasionally interrupted by his friend Shiel, who comes to seek Zaleski's help in solving mysteries that have baffled the greatest minds in Britain.

Commandant Michel de Palma follows an anonymous tip-off to a gated mansion by the coast and finds a body whose face is obscured by a fearsome tribal mask. Beneath it is a mysterious wound that could not have been caused by a bullet. Surrounded by scores of masks and painted skulls, de Palma hears the haunting strains of a primal flute from the floors above.With few leads to go on, de Palma delves into an account of the murdered doctor's voyage to Papua New Guinea seventy years earl...

Le rituel du shanar des BouriatesPrès des eaux d'un bleu éclatant du lac Baïkal, sur les terres où se rencontrent la Mongolie, la Sibérie et la Chine, vivent les Bouriates, peuple indigène très peu connu du monde occidental. Après soixante-dix ans de persécution religieuse par le gouvernement soviétique, ils peuvent à nouveau exercer leurs pratiques spirituelles traditionnelles, un mélange unique de bouddhisme tibétain et de chamanisme. Il existe deux chemins chamaniques dans la tra...