It's 1358, and young Oswald de Lacy, Lord Somershill, is delayed in Venice as he awaits a pilgrim ship to the Holy Land, in this third book in the series (after The Butcher Bird). But Oswald has secrets, and no matter how much he consoles himself with the local delights, he needs to move on. When he finds a dead man at Venice's Carnevale, however, he is dragged into a murder investigation, entangling him in the intrigues of this mysterious city and attracting the attention of the Signori di Notte, the feared secret police. It seems Oswald is not the only one with something to hide—everyone is watching someone else, and nobody in Venice is who they appear to be. "We are plunged into Sykes' rich soup of Venetian intrigue; period detail; and increasingly intricate plotting, all with the deeply realized character of Lord Somershill fighting his own demons while investigating. A brilliant addition to the Somershill Manor novels."—Booklist (starred review)