An extraordinary art collection owned by an elderly Austrian woman is kept, rather rashly, in her flat. When she is discovered dead, the case lands in Brunetti's lap, and Leon's sardonic copper soon discovers secrets involving collaboration and the exploitation of Italian Jews during the war. The brick wall he encounters seems impregnable--very few people are happy to talk about what they know. But this time his wife Paola becomes involved. One of her students tells Brunetti about a crime committed by her grandfather who died in a mental home after escaping prison, then the girl is savagely stabbed to death What is her connection with the murdered Austrian woman with and her art collection? Brunetti gets closer to a labyrinthine plot that cuts across every level of Venetian society.

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Personen: Leon, Donna