Harris Wrighten works as a private investigator, outside of the law and society. Stemming from an anonymous tip he begins an investigation into the murder of a young woman found half-buried deep within the North woods outside the town of Nevoa Ridge. The investigation draws him out of the countryside and deep into the city, closer to the victim's life and the true nature of the crime. Harris follows his instincts, tracking the thinnest of paper trails using his connections within various professional tracks, ranging from Forensic Pathology to Pharmacology, to tie off the investigation in the quickest of fashions. But as the police begin to close in on him and the investigation begins to reveal itself, Harris realizes that true answers are ones that no person would ever believe. The investigation needs to be reconsidered from every angle, right back to the beginning, before he ever set foot in the North woods, because the killer is much closer than he ever imagined.