The murder of two clam fishermen off the island of Pellestrina, south of the Lido on the Venetian lagoon, draws Commissario Brunetti into the islands close-knit community, bound together by a code of loyalty and a suspicion of outsiders worthy of the Mafia. When the Questores secretary Signorina Elettra volunteers to visit the island, where she has relatives, Brunetti finds himself torn between his duty to solve the murders, concerns for Elettras safety, and his not entirely straightforward feelings for her.