But then a young girl's disfigured body is washed ashore on the beach of a resort near Aix-en-Provence, and Danton finds himself forced to take charge of a harrowing investigation that leads him from the medieval city of Bruges in Belgium, through the glorious sun-dappled towns of Provence, and ultimately to the gothic corners of Venice, California, and the depraved denizens of its lower depths.