When a mysterious package is delivered to Robin Ellacott, she is horrified to discover that it contains a woman's severed leg. Her boss, private detective Cormoran Strike, is less surprised but no less alarmed. With the police focusing on the one suspect Strike is increasingly sure is not the perpetrator, he and Robin take matters into their own hands, and delve into the dark and twisted worlds of the other three men. But as more horrendous acts occur, time is running out for the two of them...
A dismembered leg sent to Strike's office sends both his and Robin's lives into disarray, forcing them to confront spectres from their pasts.
Strike and Robin's partnership reaches breaking point as Robin's wedding approaches, and they disagree about how to ensnare a man who abuses children.