In a hot summer morning, Arturo Clemente is sloppily murdered in his Roman apartment by a mysterious slasher. The killing is brutal, amateurish, and by all appearances random. But Clemente is no ordinary victim: He has made enemies by campaigning against illegal dog fighting, and he is married to a prominent politician. And his mistress is Manuela Innocenzi, the daughter of a dangerous crime boss. By the time police inspector Alec Blume arrives at the crime scene, it has already been compromised. Blume, a clever American expatriate with skeletons in his closet and a disposition against authority, soon realizes that he is being watched from on high. Forced to negotiate with powerful, suspicious people on all sides of the law, Blume must rely on instinct, drive, and luck to find the killer. But Blume is contending with more than a search for justice. The murder of his own parents continues to haunt him, and his solitary existence and petulant nature are now beginning to risk more innocent lives. As he careens toward the conclusion of the case, he must decide who to trust, when to take a stand, and when to step back and save his own neck.