Based loosely on the true case of the Burke and Hare murders, this is the story of a man who terrorized the streets of Edinburgh... and the woman determined to stop him at any cost

Edinburgh, 1826. Isobel Tait does her best to raise her young son Thomas alone, but yellow fever has left him with a scarred heart. Even a specialist, the renowned Dr. Connall Burnett, can do nothing for him. Isobel decides to make the most the remaining time with her son.

Until he goes missing. A chance visit to Dr. Burnett’s collection of specimens elicits a horrifying realization: there, in a small jar among stuffed lizards and misshapen bones, is a new addition. A tiny human heart. The use of stolen bodies by Edinburgh’s medical men is a controversial but open secret. But her own investigation reveals a terrible truth: the doctor’s a proxy killer obsessed with his quest for specimens. And he preys on the vulnerable.

As the powerful men of medicine close ranks against her Isobel goes undercover in Burnett’s house as a keeper of his specimens. With the help of a detective with something to prove, she must gather exact justice and put an end to the doctor's twisted plans—while not getting caught.