After his adventures under sun-drenched Neapolitan skies in Cosi Fan Tutti Aurelio Zen finds himself back in Rome sneezing in a damp wine cellar & being given another unorthodox assignment: to release the jailed scion of an important wine-growing family who is accused of a brutal murder. Zen travels north to an Italy as outwardly serene as Naples was manic. Amid the quiet fields autumnal skies & crumbling farmhouses of Piedmont Zen must try to penetrate a traditional culture in which family & soil are inextricably linked. Here secrets can last for generations & have a finish as long & lingering as that of a good Barbaresco. Zen must also face up to mysteries from his own past as well as grapple with the greed envy hatred & love that are the human components of any landscape.