Michele Ferrara, the head of Florence's Squadra mobile, is moved by the death of a very young girl from drug overdose and begins to investigate the circumstances that surrounded the event. He encounters the resistance of the hospital involved in her care and finds his investigation almost halted. In the meantime, his best friend disappears and there are suspicions that he is involved in a murder, which Michelle attempts to investigate. If in the previous novel in this series the author showed the importance of informers in the fight against crime, in this one he underlines the role of investigative journalists, and the need for collaboration between the prosecutor's department and the police if investigations are going to take place according to the law. The plot is quite good and the fact that the author was the head of the Florentine police force adds interest to the novel because it is very different from others in the genre. Nevertheless, the fact that there is such a close correlation between the author and the main character makes the later a bit too good to be true, so his intuitions are always right, his relationship with his subordinates exemplary, the goodness of his moral character is above any doubt... As a literary character is not as interesting as other detectives such as Rebus, Montalbano, or even Precious Ramotswe! Michelle's private life is not particularly thrilling either, in particular, his wife is a very boring character which does not seem to do much in life apart from being sweet and beautiful, serve drinks to visitors and being there to offer support to her hard working husband... ( )