Now freelancing from South Florida, Scarpetta returns to the city that turned its back on her five years ago. She travels to Richmond, VA, at the odd behest of the recently appointed Chief Medical Examiner, who claims that he need her help. When she arrives, however, she finds that nothing is as she expected: her former lab seems neither as organized nor as well run as it once was; the inept current chief is driven by an agenda he will not reveal; and her former assistant chief has developed personal problems he won't discuss. Deprived of assistance from colleagues Benton and Lucy, who are embroiled in another case, Scarpetta is faces with solving the death of a fourteen year old girl despite only the smallest pieces of evidence-traces that solely the most thorough hunters can identify. It's been up to Scarpetta to follow the twisting leads and track the strange details in order to make the dead speak-and reveal the sad truth that may be more than she can bear