During Lent, the town’s richest, most educated, and enterprising man vanishes mysteriously—judging by the shirt found in the reeds, the river carried him away. But what happened? Was it an accident, someone’s malicious intent—or perhaps suicide? A young priest, Jon Riva, will have to figure it out—through his eyes we witness the events. Who, if not the village spiritual caretaker, the shepherd of human souls, knows all those countless local secrets? Yet nobody knows what secrets torment him himself—what battle is unfolding in his own soul… Soon it turns out that the outcome will determine the future of the entire village.
At first glance, the novel looks like a classic detective story in picturesque medieval décor—but the narration moves backward: it begins with the ending and ends with the beginning. And it turns out to be a smart, refined, unhurried story about guilt and conscience, the struggle between religion and superstition, spirit and flesh.