}}
Rain was falling heavily in the River Po catchment area in northern Italy and the old hands knew that it would burst its banks and there would be flooding. But even they are surprised when they see Tonna's barge setting out downstream. He knows the river well, but his course out of the mooring was erratic and when the barge was eventually found Tonna was nowhere to be seen; the barge was deserted. Was it coincidence or something more sinister when Tonna's brother appeared to commit suicide on the day of his brother's discoverydisappearance: Commisario Soneri is convinced that there is more to this than meets the eye.
You'd best read this book sitting in the sun, or in front of the fire. If you don't you will feel damp and cold as Varesi effortlessly evokes the Po valley at its worst, along with the people who try and make a living from it. Old enmities from the Second World War live on with the intervening years representing little more than an armed truce. In fact the war seems eerily present throughout the book. The mists from the Po produce their own ghosts.