In a house under renovation, a plumber uncovers an unknown cellar and makes a grisly discovery - a decapitated chicken, animal bones, and cauldrons containing the relics of religious ceremonies. In the center of the shrine lies the skull of a teenage girl. Temperance Brenna - "five-five, feisty, and forty-plus" - is called in to investigate, and a complex and gripping tale unfolds in this, Kathy Reichs's eleventh novel featuring forensic descriptions that "chill to the bone" (Entertainment Weekly) and surprising plot twists that have made her books phenomenal bestsellers throughout the world.