A story like the sea itself - full of beauty, yet always with a hint of danger, where moods of light and shadow, calm and storm, life and death compete. Within its pages love is the tide that moves people together or drifts them apart, while the past returns, like waves on the shore to change and alter the present. The Mermaid's purse is a simple hiding place for a mysterious carnelian brooch. The cameo's worth arouses the greed of a ruthless man, while the mystery of its origin lead Arianne, Ian and Cameron into dangerous waters.