The skeleton is that of a young girl, no more than fourteen years old - and forensic anthropologist Dr Temperance Brennan is struggling to keep her emotions in check.

Coroner Yves Bradette is being evasive, insisting the bones are ancient and of no interest. But it doesn't quite add up, and a frustrated Tempe is convinced that Bradette is hiding something.

It's not Tempe's case; she's overwhelmed with more urgent work in the lab...But the nagging in her subconscious won't let up. A memory triggered, deep in her hindbrain - the disappearance of a childhood friend; no warning, no explanation.

Detective Andrew Ryan is working a series of parallel cases: three missing persons, three unidentified bodies - all female, all early-to-mid teens.... Could Tempe's skeleton be yet another in this tragic line of young victims? Or is she over-reacting, making connections where none exists Can she and Ryan put their personal tensions aside, and stop the killer before another young girl falls prey

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