A routine case turns sinister when Dr Temperance Brennan is accused of mishandling the autopsy of a missing heiress. Someone has made an incriminating accusation that she missed or concealed crucial evidence. But before Tempe can get to the one man with information, he turns up dead. The heiress isn't the only elderly female to have appeared on Tempe's gurney recently. Back in Montreal, three more women have died, their bodies brutally discarded. Tempe is convinced there must be a link between their deaths and that of the heiress, though the clues don't add up. Is it possible she really has made grave errors, or is some unknown foe sabotaging her? What soon becomes frighteningly clear is that it's not simply Tempe's career at risk. Her life is at stake too.