There was no body when Dr. Amy Prescott arrived at her cousin's apartment after an early morning call. But there was chaos and a missing fiancée. Oren Prescott was innocent, Amy believed, although he was nowhere to be found. Working for the Seattle State Crime Lab, where her father is the local medical examiner, Amy is surrounded by trouble. This time, as reporter Simon Kittredge teams up with Dr. Amy Prescott, they find clues leading them from Montana to an abandoned waterfront pier. Lurking behind their every move, someone watches. As the real body surfaces, Amy discovers that she could be the next victim.

Dr. Amy Prescott has transformed the science of forensics into an art with her intuitive sense for danger and an eye for detail. When Mai Nguyen is found sprawled out on her kitchen floor in a pool of blood and shattered glass, Sheriff Boyce is confident that Amy's colleague, the victim's husband, Dr. Cam Nguyen, is the murderer. Amy combs the scene, determined to uncover the truth, while Cam remains helpless in jail unable to prove his innocence. Amy's involvement in the case becomes too personal when ex-boyfriend Nathan Blackthorn appears and the two discover a trace of calcium carbonate and hidden footprints. When they are unknowingly led down a trail into the Wheeler's Southeast Asian community, haunting secrets threaten to silence the case—and end Amy's life.