Felix Markarian, a young, gay American professor, is in Istanbul to meet an antiquities dealer who needs an expert eye to appraise an ancient text, called a codex. When police tell him that the dealer has been murdered and the codex stolen, Markarian is pulled into a dangerous world where nothing and no one is what they seem. Felix, who was persuaded to go to Istanbul only at the last minute, unexpectedly finds more adventure than he bargained for, but also love with one new acquaintance and annoyance from the moment he meets another. Set at the end of the last century, Murder in the Grand Bazaar: An Intellectual Thriller, combines the intrigue of smuggled ancient texts with an exploration of Christian history.