Inspector Aliette Nouvelle's romantic life is in tatters. This sad fact becomes a heavy distraction as she goes back and forth from France to Switzerland, trying to determine who killed a Basel art gallery security guard found at a gay gathering spot on the French bank of the Rhine. A damaged painting of a shoemaker found near the body motivates the inspector almost more than the fact of murder.

Aliette identifies with the image of a dedicated artisan working in solitude. With love dissolving, her work has become all-consuming. Aliette doesn't know it at the outset, but her investigation coincides with a Swiss police investigation into the murder of a well-known Basel art restorer. It quickly becomes obvious to her that an art fraud conspiracy is at the source of both crimes. While known for her unconventional methods, Inspector Nouvelle is also known for getting results; but will the territorially minded Swiss police who ought to be her allies keep her from closing the case?