One former Miss Bolivia. Two missing Colombian drug dealers. Three wealthy tourists taken hostage.

A passenger liner runs aground on the muddy banks of the Rio del Plata. One by one, its passengers are abducted by the city's criminal classes.As the kidnapping of three wealthy European couples sends stock markets yo-yoing, the job of solving the chaos falls on the weary shoulders of the last honest men in town -- Deputy Inspector Walter Carroza of the serious-crime squad.

But the one thing on his mind is former Miss Bolivia, Ana Torrente, "a cherub with tropical lips and tits". Why is it that the bodies of the men who try to take her to bed are always found minus a head?

Devilishly ironic and shirt-soakingly atmospheric, Holy City confirms Orsi as the master chronicler of Buenos Aires' murderous underworld.