''Every detail on every page forms part of a succession of clues, planted with exquisite precision, to unravelling the mystery'' Sunday Times In a small village at the foot of the Italian Dolomites, a grave is discovered by the owner of a deserted farmhouse, which has been untouched for decades. While the body is badly decomposed, a valuable signet ring is found close by, providing the first vital clue which will lead Commissario Brunetti right to the heart of aristocratic Venice, to a family still grieving their abducted son. ''Donna Leon can paralyse the reader with a joyful suspense'' Mail on Sunday''Goes a long way to confirming Donna Leon''s claim to have taken literary possession of Venice'' Independent on Sunday