Barbara is at a loss: The daughter of her friend Taymullah Azhar has been taken by her mother, and Barbara can’t really help—Azhar had never married Angelina, and his name isn’t on Hadiyyah’s, their daughter’s, birth certificate. He has no legal claim. Azhar and Barbara hire a private detective, but the trail goes cold. Azhar is just beginning to accept his soul-crushing loss when Angelina reappears with shocking news: Hadiyyah is missing, kidnapped from an Italian marketplace. The Italian police are investigating, and the Yard won’t get involved, until Barbara takes matters into her own hands — at the risk of her own career.
As both Barbara and her partner, Inspector Thomas Lynley, soon discover, the case is far more complex than a typical kidnapping, revealing secrets that could have far-reaching effects outside of the investigation.  With both her job and the life of a little girl on the line, Barbara must decide what matters most, and how far she’s willing to go to protect it.

芭芭拉的朋友，鐵木拉．艾茲哈爾的女兒海蒂雅被妻子安潔莉娜帶走了，芭芭拉無能為力也不知從何幫起。事實上鐵木拉與安潔莉娜並未結婚，他的名字也不在海蒂雅的出生證明上，無法向法院提出聲請。芭芭拉和鐵木拉求助私家偵探，但線索卻相當薄弱。就在鐵木拉心灰意冷，打算放棄之際，安潔莉娜突然現身，還帶來令人震驚的消息：海蒂雅不見了！她在義大利市場遭到綁架。義大利警方正展開調查，但英國警方並不打算介入。芭芭拉決定賭上她的工作，將救人視為己任。  就在芭芭拉和夥伴林利警探深入調查之後，發現這不是一樁單純的綁架案，兩人聯手揭發了可能會掀起滔天駭浪的驚人祕密。當人質與工作陷入危機，面臨天人交戰的芭芭拉，得放棄救人還是犧牲事業？她能夠堅持多久呢？