In a remote mountain village in Peru, a corporal and his deputy investigate the disappearance of three men who worked at a nearby road-building camp. The region is poor, isolated and troubled by the violence of the Shining Path insurgency, and the policemen have little help and few clues.
As they question workers, locals and a strange innkeeper couple, tales of old beliefs, fear and rumour begin to surface. The novel mixes crime investigation with reflections on Andean traditions, and shows the gulf between coastal Peru and the highlands.