Three skeletons are found in the basement of a pizza parlour.

The building is old, and the homicide detective in charge dismisses the remains as historic. Not his case. Not his concern.

Forensic anthropologist Dr Temperance Brennan is not so sure. Something about the bones of these three young women suggests a different message: murder.

Tempe is in Montreal to testify as an expert witness at a trial. Digging up more bones was not on her agenda.

But soon she finds herself drawn ever deeper into a web of evil from which there may be no escape. Three women have disappeared, never to return. Will Tempe be next?