When a newborn baby is found wedged in a vanity cabinet in a run-down apartment near Montreal, Dr. Temperance Brennan is called to investigate. There, she discovers the mummified remains of two more babies within the same property. Autopsies reveal that the children had died of unnatural causes, and the hunt is now on for a young mother with a seedy past. The trail leads Tempe to Yellowknife, a desolate diamond-mining town on the edge of the Arctic Circle. Now, she faces more questions, more secrets and more dead bodies. Taking risks and working alone, Tempe refuses to give up until she has discovered why the babies died. But in such a hostile environment, can she avoid being the next victim?