Freed from a heavy work schedule, Tempe Brennan is content to dote on her daughter, Katy, finally returning to civilian life from the army. But when mother and daughter meet at Tempe’s place one night, they find a box on the back porch with a very fresh human eyeball in it. GPS coordinates etched into the eyeball lead to a Benedictine monastery where an equally macabre discovery awaits. Soon after, Tempe examines a mummified corpse in a state park. There seems to be no pattern to the subsequent killings uncovered, except that each mimics in some way a homicide that a younger Tempe had been called in to analyze. Could this elaborately staged skein of mayhem be the prelude to a twist that is even more shocking?