A man's body, virtually decapitated, is found by the Bosphorus. His identity card names him as Rifat Berisha, an Albanian. The family is impenetrable but when Inspector Cetin Ikmen, whose mother was Albanian, consults his cousin, Samsun, he's left in little doubt that Berisha's death is likely to be the result of a fis, an implacable blood feud between rival Albanian families.

Which means the blood already shed will have to be avenged. And if the Berishas or their enemies discover Ikmen is from a noted Albanian clan, some of the spilt blood might be his...