Why would two young men dump two injured American girls outside a hospital in the middle of the night and then disappear? This is the question facing Commissario Guido Brunetti in a tricky case that requires the help of the Carabinieri and the Guardia Costiera to solve. What the Venetian detective and his colleagues eventually discover is genuinely horrific. The climax is nothing less than a trip — across the laguna — into the heart of darkness.
The mystery is intriguing, but following the progress of Brunetti via canal and calle provides the real pleasure; this has been the case since Brunetti’s first appearance in Death at La Fenice (1992). Crossing St Mark’s Square, for example: “He ambled, delighting in the sight of the flags
