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The new owner of a farmhouse at the foot of the Italian Dolomites is summoned to the house when his workmen disturb a macabre grave. Once on the job, Brunetti uncovers a clue that reignites an infamous cold case of kidnapping and disappearance involving one of Venice's oldest, most aristocratic families.

During a performance of La Traviata at La Fenice opera house the distinguished German conductor is found dead, apparently poisoned by a cup of coffee. Brunetti embarks on a voyage of exploration in the often murky world both of opera and the victim's family, eventually unearthing a surprising conclusion.

Commissario Brunetti is visited by a young bureaucrat investigating the lack of official approval for the construction of Brunetti's apartment years before. What began as a red tape headache ends in murder when the bureaucrat is later found dead after a mysterious fall from a scaffold.

Brunetti comes to the aid of a young nursing sister who is leaving her convent following the unexpected death of five patients. At first, Brunetti's inquiries reveal nothing amiss, and he wonders whether the nun is simply creating a smoke screen to justify abandoning her vocation. But perhaps, she has stumbled onto something very real and very sinister - something that puts her life in imminent danger.

As Venice braces for a winter tempest and the onslaught of acqua alta - the rising waters from torrential rain - Commissario Guido Brunetti finds out that an old friend has been savagely beaten at the palazzo home of reigning diva Flavia Petrelli

A wealthy elderly woman is murdered. Soon after her Romanian maid was hit by a train while trying to leave Italy with a large amount of money and forged papers. The case appears to be solved. Then a neighbour provides evidence that the maid was not guilty of the murder. Brunetti digs further into the case, though officially it is closed and finds that greed was not the motive behind the killing.

Brunetti faces an unsettling case when a young cadet has been found hanged, a presumed suicide, in Venice's elite military academy. As he pursues his inquiry, he is faced with a wall of silence and finds himself caught up in the strange and stormy politics of his country's powerful elite.

Brunetti confronts a grisly sight when the body of a young American is fished out of a fetid Venetian canal. Though all the signs point to a violent mugging, something incriminating turns up in the victim's apartment that suggests the existence of a high-level conspiracy.

The murder of two clam fishermen off the island of Pellestrina, south of the Lido on the Venetian lagoon, draws Commissario Brunetti into the island's close-knit community, bound together by a code of loyalty and a suspicion of outsiders. When Signorina Elettra volunteers to visit the island, where she has relatives, Brunetti finds himself torn between his duty to solve the murders, concerns for Elettra's safety, and his not entirely straightforward feelings for her.

The student Claudia Leonardo asks Commissario Brunetti for advice about a retrial. Patta is especially pleased about the support of the pretty new colleague Franca Capari. Before Brunetti can make himself known in this case, Claudia is stabbed to death. Does the murder perhaps have something to do with the valuable pictures that her grandfather acquired as an officer? When Brunetti also finds Signora Jacobs, Claudia's grandmother, dead and discovers the hiding place of the valuable paintings, the case seems to be solved. But a chance encounter finally puts Brunetti on a completely different track...

The Venetian island of Murano is known for its artisans who specialize in the traditional craft of glassmaking. When the owner of a glass factory is found murdered, Commissario Brunetti uncovers a connection between the colorful, filigree glass products that he made and some very toxic poisons. How else to explain the colorful slime containing arsenic oozing out from the factory?

When an illegal Albanian immigrant gives birth, she’s told that her baby has died and she should ask no further questions. Her personal devastation brings Brunetti into the world of child trafficking, where purveyors exploit a vulnerable population afraid to stand up for their rights. The horror continues when he learns how far in society the ripples have spread.

A ten-year-old Roma girl is found dead in a Venetian canal. Brunetti goes to the encampment where she lived, but his attempts to speak with the community there are futile. When he learns who had befriended the victim and her little brother, he begins to understand the community’s silence. It also explains why he’s hit obstacles preventing the investigation.

The murder of a trucking entrepreneur strikes close to home when Brunetti learns that the victim was involved in shady deals with a friend’s husband. Clues point to the Mafia, and Brunetti encourages his friend to turn state’s witness against them. Even more shocking is the fact that his own father-in-law may have connections with what’s turned out to be a very fishy case.

The apparently mentally disabled Davide falls into the canal and drowns. As it turns out, he had an overdose of beta blockers in his bloodstream. Ana Cavanelli, Davide's mother, confesses to Brunetti that she gave him the pills - Davide had asked her to die several times. When Brunetti receives a hint that there is a connection between Davide and the multimillionaire Ludovico Lembo, he gradually uncovers the abysses of a family tragedy.

The violent death of a book collector leads Commissario Brunetti to the venerable Merula Library. In precious folios pages are missing. They were ruthlessly cut out. Was the victim a collector and art thief who got involved with the wrong people on the black market? But who murders for antiquarian book pages? And don't books stand for ideal values in addition to material ones? Brunetti suspects this and pushes the investigation further. Against the will of the traditional and influential Doge family Morosini-Albini, whose proud progenitor is currently running for Venice's mayor's office and who therefore wants to hide a centuries-old secret.

The celebrated soprano Flavia Petrelli returns to Venice after almost 15 years. A reason to be happy. However, her comeback is overshadowed: a boat has been set on fire. The Opera's director is in dispute with the union and blames the latter for several attacks. But when a young costume assistant dies, Brunetti realizes that there is more at stake. When he discovers a hiding place with an observation camera, it becomes manifest: Flavia Petrelli has a stalker! Apparently, the stranger wants to stage her stage performance as an unforgettable event. In return he does not shy away from violence. Is the soprano herself in danger in the end?

The last case for Brunetti. During a cure, he befriends a beekeeper. When Brunetti discovers the body of the acquaintance, his criminalist instinct awakens and he is on the track of an immense environmental scandal.