'This was a lonely place for anybody to be brought to die.' In the wealthy town
of Ostia, our hero Falco appears to be enjoying a relaxing holiday. But when his
girlfriend, Helena, arrives carrying a batch of old copies of the Daily Gazette
- with the intention of catching up on the latest scandal - Falco is forced to
admit to Petronius his real reasons for being there. 'Infamia', the pen name of
the scribe who writes the gossip column for the Daily Gazette, has gone missing.