Forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan once again inadvertently stumbles upon a modern-day mystery. While supervising a dig of Native American burial grounds in Charleston, S.C., Brennan finds more recent remains. Soon, her ex-husband, who is a lawyer, appears in town pursing leads in a missing persons case connected with a local church. Bodies start piling up at an alarming rate, and Brennan begins to suspect that the deaths are linked to each other and her ex-husband's inquiry.