When the body of a child is discovered in the grounds of an Italian country villa, it seems for the English parents that the past has finally been laid to rest - their child had been abducted 15 years ago but never found, until now. Lynley, who as a family friend had played an ancillary role to the Italian investigation, goes out to Italy to support the family. But when he begins an affair with the family's now grown-up daughter - Julia - and she is then found dead in her Rome apartment, Lynley is hauled in for questioning by the Italian police. Is he guilty of her murder? Lynley is convinced that Julia's death is somehow tied to her brother's abduction and death 15 years ago. Is Sullivan, the man Lynley helped convict of the crime 15 years ago, in fact innocent as he has always claimed?