A killer in Montreal is murdering and dismembering women, and police are getting nowhere. Forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, a middle-aged lady from North Carolina, goes after him herself.

Her life is devoted to justice; for those she never even knew. In the year since Temperance Brennan left behind a shaky marriage in North Carolina, work has often preempted her weekend plans to explore Quebec. When a female corpse is discovered meticulously dismembered and stashed in trash bags, Temperance detects an alarming pattern and she plunges into a harrowing search for a killer. But her investigation is about to place those closest to her, her best friend and her own daughter in mortal danger...