New York City native Jeremiah Salinger was once one half of a hotshot documentary-making team. But now Salinger’s left that all behind to move with his wife, Annelise, and young daughter, Clara, to the remote part of Italy where Annelise grew up—the Alto Adige. 

Nestled in the Dolomites, this breathtaking rural region that was once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire remains more Austro than Italian. Locals speak a strange, ancient dialect—Ladino—and root for Germany (against Italy) in the World Cup. Annelise’s small town—Siebenhoch—is close-knit to say the least, and does not take kindly to out-of-towners. When Salinger decides to make a documentary about the mountain rescue group, the mission goes horribly awry, leaving him the only survivor. He blames himself, and so—it seems—does everyone else in Siebenhoch. Spiraling into a deep depression, he begins having terrible, recurrent nightmares. Only his little girl, Clara, can put a smile on his face. 

But when he takes Clara to the Bletterbach Gorge—a canyon rich in fossil remains—he accidentally overhears a conversation that gives his life renewed purpose. In 1985, three students were murdered there, their bodies savaged, limbs severed and strewn by a killer who was never found. Salinger becomes obsessed with solving the mystery and is convinced it is the only thing that can keep him sane. As Salinger unearths the long-kept secrets of this small town, one by one, the terrifying truth is eventually revealed about the horrifying crime that marked an entire village.