A model is murdered on the old bridge shortly after Vena Goodwin arrives in Florence, Italy. Third in the Vena Goodwin murder mystery series, the novel finds the young amateur sleuth again paired with a Carabiniere officer to untangle a web of murders. The narrative moves between contemporary Florence and its Renaissance past through echoes of artists in the city Vena discovers in her search for justice. Working with the Carabinieri, Vena comes to very different conclusions as to the murderer. Portraying the birth of art comingled with violence, Dafoe's novel moves in tension between a man and woman, between artists, and between Dante's Divine Comedy and what it has inspired.