Disillusioned with her work at MI6, spy Sylvia Fox travels to Italy for the wedding of her niece. Although her relationship with her sister, Isabel, is troubled, Sylvia is welcomed warmly by her family. But when the groom goes missing, leaving a dead woman behind, Sylvia feels compelled to investigate. The trail leads her from an empty pizza box and stolen children's book to a deadly showdown.
Sylvia helps out on an archaeological dig at the Castello di Monterosa, and finds a skeleton buried in a shallow grave.
When Sasha Pavlenko, the son of a Russian politician is arrested in Rome for the murder of a fellow-student, Sylvia's ex-husband and ex-colleague Adam asks her to investigate.
A pillar of the local community is found dead at the charity he runs, and Antonella's friend is arrested for his murder. Trying to clear the woman's name, Sylvia follows a trail of blackmail, family secrets, and illicit love.
Freelancing for MI6, Sylvia poses as the PA for a diplomat's widow at her luxurious lakeside villa. She's keeping watch on a South American politician, but when a dead body is found in the lake, Riva is astonished to discover Sylvia already onsite.
When an old foe abducts Sylvia, she must draw on her formidable reserves of physical and mental resilience to escape. While Riva investigates through official channels, Henry and Isabel run their own covert operation, all of them racing to save her.
