In the picturesque Tuscan hill town of Scandicci, the body of a girl is discovered, lying by the edge of the woods. The local police investigate the case-but after a week, they still haven t even identified her, let alone got to the bottom of how she died.

Frustrated by the lack of progress, Chief Superintendent Michele Ferrara, head of Florence s elite Squadra Mobile, decides to step in. Because toxins were discovered in the girl s body, many assumed that she died of a self-inflicted drugs overdose. But Ferrara quickly realises that the truth is darker than that: he believes that the girl was murdered.

And when he delves deeper, there are many aspects to the case that convince Ferrara that the girl s death is part of a sinister conspiracy-a conspiracy that has its roots in the very foundations of Tuscan society…