When Commissario Brunetti is summoned to the hospital bedside of a senior paediatrician whose skull has been brutally fractured he is confronted with more questions than answers. Three men have burst into the doctor's apartment in the middle of the night attacked him & took his 18-month-old son
- but why? As he investigates Brunetti finds infertility desperation & babies for sale. Meanwhile Inspector Vianello uncovers a scam between pharmacists & doctors in the city. & certain information about one's neighbours can lead to all kinds of corruption & all sorts of pain... Donna Leon's new novel is as subtle & gripping as ever set in a beautifully realised Venice seething with small-town malice.