Sixteen-year-old Geneva Settle is researching one of her ancestors, a former slave named Charles Singleton, when she suddenly becomes the target of a professional killer. With no obvious reason why an ordinary high-school student should be marked for death, forensic criminalist Lincoln Rhyme and his partner Amelia Sachs are brought in to protect her and uncover the motive.
Their investigation leads back more than a century to Charles Singleton and a long-buried mystery from the 1860s. As Rhyme and Sachs examine the evidence, they must determine how the past connects to the present while trying to anticipate the killer’s next move. Combining forensic investigation, a historical cold case and a tense cat-and-mouse pursuit, The Twelfth Card is a fast-paced crime thriller filled with puzzles and deception.