As the summer sun beats down on the ancient town of Acitrezza, a folk festival plays out in the picturesque harbour. Music, laughter and the aroma of local delicacies fill the air, and a traditional pantomime draws a crowd. For rookie journalist Nedda Leonardi, it's just another day's reporting in a calendar of unremarkable events.

Until that is, the performers dive in the sparkling Ionian Sea for their finale... and emerge with a corpse. Could this be Nedda's big break? After one trick too many, Calogero Maugeri, self-styled Magus and con artist, is a wanted man.

But his attempts to clean up his act and keep a low profile are thwarted when it's revealed he has a suspicious connection to the dead man pulled from the sea. A young reporter keen for a scoop and a reformed swindler desperate to clear his name... can this improbable pair solve the most unusual of murders?