When the naked body of a young woman is found in the snow at a Norwegian ski resort, Sam Ryan is asked to represent the Townsend family whose daughter Ruth disappeared there several weeks before. The autopsy however reveals that it is in fact the body of Louise Hutton who had vanished there some 15 years previously. When Ruth's body is subsequently found, it appears both girls were strangled in a similar fashion. The police focus their enquiries on Ruth's boyfriend and on Henry Hutton, Louise's uncle while Sam seeks the advice of a university colleague and tries to ...

Sam Ryan is under great stress when she learns that she may have a tumor. As a result, she starts to question her judgment when she misses a possible explanation in determining the time of death in the case of Lloyd Dupen's wife, an apparent suicide. She's not convinced however that everything is above board and agrees to undertake a second autopsy at the request of the dead woman's mother. She's also asked by Bishop Craig to perform an autopsy on the remains of Sister Constance, a beatified nun who died forty years ago and is under consideration for canonization. The results of the autopsy will have an impact on the religious order as well as many of those in the community who see the commercial advantages of having a local saint.