The woman's body was found in the early morning, on a bench in a New York City playground. She was clean, her hair neatly arranged, her makeup carefully applied. But other things were very wrong, like the tattoo and piercings, clearly new. The fatal wound hidden beneath a ribbon around her neck. And the note: Bad Mommy, written in crayon as if by a child. Eve Dallas turns to the department's top profiler, who confirms what Eve believes: They're dealing with a killer whose childhood involved some sort of trauma. Yet the clues suggest a perpetrator who'd be 60 years old, and there are no records of old crimes with a similar MO. What was the trigger that sent someone over the edge? When Eve discovers that other young women, who physically resemble the first victim, have vanished, the clock starts ticking louder. But to solve this case she will need to find her way into a hidden place of dim light and concrete, into the distant past, and into the cold depths of a shattered mind.