When Commissario Brunetti is summoned to the hospital bedside of a senior paediatrician whose skull has been fractured in a brutal attack, 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 and taken away his eighteen-month old son. What can have motivated such a violent assault? As he investigates Brunetti begins to uncover a story of infertility, desperation, and an underworld in which babies can be bought for cash. Meanwhile, Inspector Vianello has uncovered a money-making scam between pharmacists and doctors in the city. But one of the pharmacists is motivated by more than thoughts of gain - the power of knowledge and delusions of moral rectitude can be as destructive and powerful as love of money. And certain information about one's neighbours can lead to all kinds of corruption and all sorts of pain...Donna Leon's new novel is as subtle and gripping as ever, set in a beautifully-realised Venice, seething with small-town malice.