Doctors Alexandra Belliveau, a police forensic psychologist, and Paul Bernard, a crime laboratory director, have their inaugural retirement celebration interrupted with an upsurge in terrorist attacks. Their investigation reveals a connection between Islamic terrorists and an olden secret society stretching back to the French Gallic period, and into modern-day financial institutions. A Police nationale officer is assassinated along with an informant; a Moscow agent is wounded in the same ambush. Corruption is suspected at a senior level within both the police and government bureaucracy. Alexandra and Paul find themselves having to consider rapprochement with former enemies who were once on opposite sides of the Cold War divide. Spine of the Antiquarian is the second book of the Noir Intelligence Series. The Black Hat is the first book of the series.