Can love be so toxic it kills the ones you love? Brunetti re-investigates the kidnapping of a young noble man after his body turns up after 2 years. Leon contrasts the relationships in Brunetti's life with the one of the young man's family to show how your life can turn on a dime and how you can't protect the ones you love against themselves. The plot is tight but is more transparent this time and the reader can see things coming quite easily. Not really a problem since it's not the who but the why that is important in this tale.