1880. Italy has been united for a long time, the Bourbons are only a memory, but in Vigata the coat of arms still counts a lot. And the noblest among the nobles are the Pelusos of Torre Venerina. But this very rich and powerful family suddenly begins to be decimated by mourning. The Pelusos die one after the other, like the prey of a hunting trip. And curiously, the beginning of this disturbing and dark slaughter coincides with the arrival in Vigata of a mysterious character: Fofò La Matina, a young pharmacist, the son of a farmer who many years earlier had worked as a farmer for the Pelusos.