Sylvia helps out on an archaeological dig at the Castello di Monterosa and finds a skeleton buried in a shallow grave. The locals are convinced it's that of a teenage girl who disappeared 25 years ago.

When Sasha Pavlenko, the son of a Russian politician, is arrested in Rome for the murder of a fellow student, Sylvia's ex-husband and ex-colleague Adam asks her to investigate.

Investigating a community leader's murder, Sylvia uncovers a trail of blackmail, secrets and illicit love.

Freelancing for MI6, Sylvia poses as the PA for a diplomat's widow at her luxurious lakeside villa; she's keeping watch on a South American politician, but when a dead body is found in the lake, Riva is astonished to discover Sylvia already onsite.

When an old foe abducts Sylvia, she must draw on her formidable reserves of physical and mental resilience to escape; while Riva investigates through official channels, Henry and Isabel run their own covert operation, all of them racing to save her.