Il monastero delle ombre perdute

The young Leonora Baroni enters the catacombs of Domitilla with a suitor, but here she encounters the corpse of a man and, with equal horror, a woman with a goat's face. Two days later, the inquisitor Fra' Girolamo Svampa, exiled in Tuscany, receives a visit from Father Francesco Capiferro, secretary of the Index, who has the task of bringing him back to Rome to shed light on the crime. Despite the opposition of Gabriele da Saluzzo, his longtime enemy, Svampa is appointed commissioner and, with the help of his loyal Cagnolo Alfieri, begins the investigation by contacting Leonora's family. However, he soon realizes that the ground on which he must move is very slippery.

Indeed, Leonora is the daughter of Adriana Basile, a famous singer and sister of the great Neapolitan writer Giambattista, who ends up being dangerously involved in the case due to a fairy tale. To further complicate matters, the "circle of singing women" gathered around Adriana and her sister Margherita, an enigmatic character with multiple talents, appears to have a particular interest in Svampa.