John and Laura have come to Venice to try to escape the pain of their young daughter's death. But when they encounter two old women who claim to have second sight, they find that instead of laying their ghosts to rest they become caught up in a train of increasingly strange and violent events. The other four haunting, evocative stories in this volume also explore deep fears and longings, secrets and desires: a lonely teacher investigates a mysterious American couple; a young woman confronts her father's past; a party of pilgrims meet disaster in Jerusalem; a scientist harnesses the power of the mind to chilling effect ...