Rikard Olsen, a violin maker from Norway, is found dead in the canal in Cremona - and it wasn't an accident. A mysterious, exquisitely-decorated Hardanger fiddle that he brought with him to Italy has disappeared. Rikard was a former pupil of Gianni Castiglione, and Gianni and his detective friend, Antonio Guastafeste, travel to Norway to investigate the murder - to Grieg's home at Troldhaugen; to Lysoen, the island retreat of Norway's Paganini, Ole Bull, and high into the mountains where memories are long and secrets easy to conceal. The missing Hardanger fiddle had a carving of a hauntingly-beautiful young woman on the scroll. Gianni and Guastafeste believe that the woman may hold the key to the whole puzzle. But who was she and what made her so special that Rikard Olsen had to die?