Sylvia Fox goes to Umbria for the wedding of her niece, Alice. But the groom, Tommaso, disappears, leaving a woman's body in the lake at the bottom of his garden.

When Sasha Pavlenko, the son of a Russian politician is arrested in Rome for the murder of a fellow-student, Sylvia's ex-husband and ex-colleague Adam asks her to investigate.

Sylvia is abducted, and fights for her own survival while Riva and her family race to find her.