Magic, a beautiful scapegoat, an accused pedophile, a wayward priest, and a painting by a feminist icon all contribute to the death of the murdered victim, Rita Minelli. Found in the Assisi graveyard on Good Friday, the most solemn day in the Catholic calendar, Rita is found dressed provocatively in black lace, her undergarments clearly disturbed. Was she raped is the first question, Alex Cenni, a commissario in the State Police of Umbria, must answer in his interrogation of Rita's aristocratic family, the Count and Countess Casati. Who was the victim is his second question.

Rita Minelli grew up in Brooklyn, the only child of a narcissistic Italian mother and the GI she married at the end of World War II. After her mother's death, Rita quits her teaching job and descends upon her poor but aristocratic relatives, the Count and Countess Casati, in Assisi. It's a while before they realize that Rita has come to stay. But when the family assembles to watch the penitents procession in the town square on Good Friday, Rita does not join them as planned. Her corpse is later found in the family mausoleum.

Alessandro Cenni must unearth the secrets of the Casati family and their circle if he is to discover who killed Rita and why. But he is blocked by their powerful right-wing connections, and by a superior who would rather arrest a scapegoat than risk political suicide. Aided by a loyal staff in his quest for justice, he still must acknowledge that no one can defeat the last enemy, death itself.

In the shadow of Assisi's ancient graves, Commissario Cenni untangles a web of lust, betrayal, and power before a noble family buries its secrets for good