When an old college friend leading a religious tour in Assisi asks interpreter Rick Montoya to fill in for their guide who's gone missing, Rick is happy to oblige. He's looking forward to seeing his old friend, and the food and wine of Umbria sound like the perfect reward for a tense translation job he's just completed for the police in Palermo involving witness testimony against the mafia. But when the shady tour guide is found dead the next morning under suspicious circumstances, Rick's relaxing gig turns into an unofficial job assisting the local police inspector with her interviews of the tour group members. Could one of the pious pilgrims be a cold-blooded killer? Or has one of the victims' many shady dealings finally caught up with him?

Translator Rick Montoya is looking forward to a quiet weekend away with his girlfriend, Betta, an art fraud investigator for the Italian Culture Ministry. Their destination: the beautiful village of Urbino, home to Renaissance masters Rafael and the lesser-known Piero della Francesca. While Betta does have official business to attend to --- namely, collecting a priceless Piero drawing from a wealthy Spanish collector on the ministry's behalf --- she asks Rick to join her "in case she needs an interpreter," but with other, less-official intentions in mind. When the Spaniard is found murdered and the drawing stolen, Betta must shift back into art cop mode, and Rick's official services are required after all.

Rick Montoya, who is eager to experience more of his Italian mother's culture, heads to Rome to start his own translation business. He's armed with curiosity and an appetite for local food and wine. Rick's maternal uncle is a Roman cop with one eye to his nephew's welfare and another to how Rick might be useful, perhaps widen his career choices. So Commissario Piero Fontana pulls Rick into an investigation: the murder of Count Umberto Zimbardi. The wealthy count enjoyed indulging a circle of convivial friends and a hobby collecting oral histories by interviewing residents in the city's centro storico. After heading home from such an afternoon, he was found dead on a bridge over the Tiber.

Following the murder of Roberto Rondini, an elderly fisherman, Rick Montoya soon receives a call from the States. The US Embassy in Rome has recommended his services to wealthy Angelo Rondini, Roberto’s cousin. Angelo has been invited to the funeral by Roberto's daughter, Livia Guarino. Out of respect, Angelo has agreed to connect with the Italian family he hasn't seen since he was a very young boy. Rick hires on as interpreter. And soon he receives another assignment: a local cop, Inspector Crespi, leads the murder investigation and asks Rick to observe and report. Rick agrees, if Angelo accepts his working undercover. And so Rick once again puts his linguistic skills to use for the local law in solving a crime.

Orvieto. Its very name brings to mind priceless art, colorful ceramics, straw-colored wine, and the most famous cathedral façade in Italy, a structure of gothic spires, arches, statues and mosaics. When Rick Montoya moved to Italy to work as a freelance translator using his dual heritage, he didn’t expect to be helping the Italian police. During his fourth investigation, his language skills draw him into the brutal murder of an American visitor. Strong suspects, tantalizing secrets, concealed motives and risky behaviors tie to a fascinating landscape and layers of Orvieto’s past.