Hard times for Dr. Ardelia Spinola. A day she received a strange phone call from her ex-boyfriend Arturo. It is strange because she has the feeling that he is silent about the real reason of the call. A few days later Ardelia is at the scene of a crime to examine a corpse, but the body that is fished out with a bullet in the chest from the swimming pool of the villa of Davide Drusi, a Ligurian entrepreneur, is that of Arturo. Ardelia is shocked, and even more upset that the two men are almost identical to each other. Perhaps that peculiar resemblance could explain the crime: a mistake in person.

To stay close to Ardelia and to relieve her from her pain there is always Bartolomeo, the retired commissioner and old friend of her, who will try in every way to keep her away from her troubles. However, given her strong emotional involvement, she doesn't know how to stay away from the investigation.

With her unmistakable humor, Cristina Rava, with this 5th novel, is considered by critic and readers the Lady of the Italian Crime Literature.