Granted leave from the Questura, Commissario Guido Brunetti decides to finally take a well-earned break and visit SantErasmo, one of the largest islands in the Venetianlaguna.

The recuperative stay goes according to plan until Davide Casati, the mysterious caretaker of the villa Brunetti has been staying in, goes missing following a sudden storm. Nobody can find him not his daughter, not his friends, and not the woman hes been secretly visiting . . .

Convinced that this was no accident, Brunetti feels compelled to set aside his holiday and discover what happened to the man who had recently become his friend.

Donna Leonwas named byThe Timesas one of the 50 Greatest Crime Writers. She is an award-winning crime novelist, celebrated for the bestselling Brunetti series. Donna has lived in Venice for thirty years and previously lived in Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Iran and China, where she worked as a teacher. Donnas books have been translated into 35 languages and have been published around the world.

Her previous novels featuring Commissario Brunetti have all been highly acclaimed; includingFriends in High Places, which won the CWA Macallan Silver Dagger for Fiction,Fatal Remedies, Doctored Evidence, A Sea of TroublesandBeastly Things.