People are dying in east Tennessee. Children and the elderly and young adults in the prime of life, whole families are being found dead of unknown causes. Dr. Lee Turner, the deputy coroner for Bartram County, took the phone call that led her to the discovery of the first body, that of Dr. Alexander Hamrick, an aging scientist retired from the National Research Labs at Oak Ridge. Lee recently moved back to Carters Mill, the quiet little university town of her childhood, hoping for a slower pace of life and some peace of mind. But the discovery of the Hamrick body and those that follow turn her life and the lives of the citizens of Bartram County inside out. Lee works desperately to get to the bottom of whatever is going on, but not everyone is cooperative and happy with what she is doing. Powerful and sinister forces stand in her way at every turn. Through it all, Lee has the support of her loyal assistant, the normally goodnatured and laid back Buddy Ruff who is not only her righthand man, he can be her righthand fist when the going gets dirty. She can only hope she has enough resources and enough time to solve the mystery as people close to her fall victim and she herself could be the next to die.
