Since her divorce, Evelyn James balances her work as a forensic trace evidence specialist for the Cleveland Police with raising an angry teenage daughter who blames her for the divorce. When you add in an ex-husband with his new perfect, young wife, Evelyn prefers dealing with the corpses from work. This all changes when she arrives on a horrific crime scene, guaranteed to produce nightmares. Divers discover a beautiful young woman standing underwater with her feet encased in a cement-filled bucket. Increasing the horror is that the evidence points to the victim being alive when she was tossed into the water.

When the next victim is the mayor's daughter, pressure mounts to uncover evidence to find who's behind these repugnant crimes. Evelyn works with David Milaski, a detective given one last chance to succeed. They feverishly try to discover the identity of the first girl, looking for possible mob connections. The case rapidly becomes a career make-it or break-it for Evelyn and David. As they get closer to the killer, Evelyn's own life is in jeopardy. David has only minutes to solve the puzzle's last piece and save Evelyn from a watery grave.

A forensic specialist for the Florida police department, Elizabeth Becka uses her own career and experience to give readers a hard-hitting, realistic suspense that rings with authenticity. Fans of Patricia Cornwell and Kathy Reichs will enjoy this nail-biting debut novel and look forward to the next Evelyn James book.