While jogging off duty along the riverfront, Val discovers the dead body of a teenage girl—and ignites a manhunt for a serial killer. Based on her follow-up research, the Clayton, CT police department links the girl’s murder to at least four others in the past year—all drowned. All barefoot. All bearing the same strange, fresh tattoo. Val wrangles a coveted spot on a high-profile task force dedicated to finding the killer, nicknamed by a muckraking blogger as the “Shoeless Schoolgirl Slayer.” But the killer is clever and elusive, and somehow has gained inside knowledge of the task force’s tactics and plans. Moreover, his targets, methods, and timing are shifting in unpredictable ways, putting those close to Val—and perhaps Val herself—in mortal danger. How can Val stop the Shoeless Slayer before he strikes down another innocent victim?