Ferragosto in Venice: Commissario Brunetti longs to go to the mountains in South Tyrol with his family. He really needs a holiday and wants to hide away under the duvet and read history books. For a while it seems that even crime is taking a break for the summer, but then two friends ask him for a favour: Brusca is worried about delayed cases at the Tribunale, and Vianello about his aunt. She is in danger of becoming a victim of her trusting nature and Vianello fears she might be under the influence of a dangerous trickster. Which canals is the money flowing through? Brunetti would rather solve all this after his holiday and is already on the train –when a dead body is discovered. A murder case that leads the Commissario all over Venice in the stifling heat. Brunetti fights against underhandedness and hypocrisy, against cunning and corruption. But he still dreams of a world, which is founded on good faith and belief.