Petra

Inspector Petra Delicato finds herself unwillingly investigating what appears to be an isolated case of rape and murder in the slums of Genoa. But then other cases soon crop up, all linked by a common denominator: a "tribal" sign the rapist leaves engraved on the girls' bodies. Paired with old-fashioned policeman Antonio Monte, Petra grapples with a perilous hunt for the serial killer.

The brutal murder of a seeming nobody throws Petra and Antonio into the cruel underworld of dogfighting. A veterinarian, an ethologist, and a dog so ugly he's nicknamed Fright are their road companions in a convoluted investigation punctuated with murders all along the way - one of them especially shocking and unexpected.

Petra receives a package delivered to the police station that contains a severed penis. Similar brutal amputations follow, one after the other, in a kind of macabre ritual, but the police turn up no corpse. The investigation leads to a sect with roots in Russia, and finally, aided by the Russian police and the charismatic Egor, Petra and Antonio solve a truly nightmarish puzzle.

The death of a young woman closely tied to an influential personality becomes a very delicate case involving all the precinct honchos, while the murder of a much-hated TV gossipmonger is considered a pointless hassle to be passed along to the bottom of the pecking order: Petra and Antonio. But as they uncover the seamy side of the entertainment business, could the truly sensitive case be theirs?