An unassuming uninhabited farmhouse in the Italian countryside delivers up its gruesome secret when its overgrown grounds are cleared for the first time in decades. What is left of the decomposing body is of little help to the urgently summoned Brunetti ... until a distinctively valuable signet ring, found nearby, links the mangled remains to a kidnapped scion of Venetian aristocracy.

"A Penguin mystery"--Cover. Originally published: London : Heinemann, 1998. Includes excerpt from author's new mystery, Uniform Justice.