Summoned in the middle of the night to the hospital bed of a senior pediatrician, Commissario Brunetti is confronted with more questions than answers. Three men had burst into the doctor's apartment while the family was sleeping, attacked him, and taken away his eighteen-month-old boy. What could have motivated an assault so violent that it has left the doctor mute? Who would dare to take the doctor's child?

As Brunetti delves into the case, he begins to uncover a story of infertility, desperation, and illegal dealings. At the same time, Brunetti's colleague, Inspector Vianello, discovers a moneymaking scam between pharmacists and doctors in the city. But it appears as if one of the pharmacists is after more than money. What secrets are to be found in his client's medical records? And what has been done with them? Suffer the Little Children is a powerful mystery, set in a beautifully realized Venice, a glorious town seething with big-city vice.