Paola Brunetti has just finished her lecture on the code of honour in Edith Wharton's novels, when Claudia Leonardo, one of her students, asks her a favour: She's troubled by a dark spot in her family's past. Years ago, her grandfather was accused of fishy business dealings. What could one do to restore his good name? Can Paola's husband with his knowledge of the law help her? But before the Commissario and Paola can find out what is the reason for the girl's distress, Claudia is dead. The investigation of her death takes Brunetti back to World War II, a time which neither his own father nor his father-in-law, Conte Orazio, have ever been keen to discuss. Brunetti starts to unearth long buried secrets of collaboration, racketeering, and the exploitation of Italian Jews during the War. Gripping, atmospheric and threatening: Commissario Brunetti is taking on dangerous enemies, and the ghosts of the past are more powerful than he thinks…