She works with the dead but she works for the living.

"Down time" is not a phrase in Tempe Brennan's vocabulary: in the midst of a sizzling North Carolina summer, a string of disturbing cases puts her vacation plans on hold. A fiery plane crash, a newborn's remains, a mysterious cache unearthed on a remote farm...all hide secrets that Tempe must extract from the bones of the dead. But X rays and DNA can't tell her what she needs to know most urgently: who is closing in on Tempe and her family -- and how far they will go to keep her from uncovering the truth.