On one of the ski runs, bathed in the harsh sunlight, which wind their way down from the Matterhorn – as the Cervino is known on the Swiss side – a man, an experienced skier, lost control whilst descending and came to a disastrous halt at the bottom of a fifty-metre precipice. The pathologist’s investigation will reveal that he lost control of his skis after being struck by two bullets: the first grazed him and the second hit the muscle in his left leg. So this was no accident, but murder – and, moreover, the murder of a friend, or former friend, of Lugano Inspector Gian Fabio Reguzzoni, who, despite still being suspended from the police force, cannot resist investigating to try to track down the culprits.
Amid red herrings and obstacles, with the help of the young Ticino-based blogger Amos Bergamini, known as Amber, and following a series of events that will also see a criminal organisation involved – one which is spreading from Bavaria into German- and Italian-speaking Switzerland – the tangled web will be unravelled and the harsh truth will emerge amidst the gusts of wind and the spray of the choppy sea off the Costa Dorada. But the truth will remain unresolved and will bring nothing but bitterness.