Authors:
Donna Leon
Description:
On the Cover:
One rainy morning Commissario Brunetti and Ispecttore Vianello respond to a 911 call reporting a body floating near some steps on the Grand Canal. Reaching down to pull it out, Brunetti's wrist is caught by the silkiness of golden hair, and he sees a small foot - tgether he an Vianello lift a dead girl from the water.
But, inconcievably, no one has reported a missing child, nor the theft of the gold jewellery that she carries. So Brunetti is drawn into a search not only for the cause of her death but also for her identity, her family, and for the secrets that people will keep in order to protect their children - be they innocent or guilty.
The investigation takes Brunetti from the canals and palazzs of Venice to a Gypsy encampment on the mainland, through quicksands of connections and realtionships both known and concealed, as he striggles with institutional prejudice and entrenched crminality to try to unravel the fate of the dead child.