Lincoln Child

Traveling to an isolated writers' retreat deep in the Adirondacks, Jeremy Logan, an investigator who specializes in unexplained phenomena, discovers a dead hiker whose wounds suggest an unnatural attack before encountering numerous suspects and a woman scientist struggling with the death of her father.

"A long-buried family secret resurfaces when one of Aloysius Pendergast's most implacable enemies shows up on his doorstep as a murdered corpse. The mystery has all the hallmarks of the perfect murder, save for an enigmatic clue: a piece of turquoise lodged in the stomach of the deceased. The gem leads Pendergast to an abandoned mine on the shore of California's desolate Salton Sea, which in turn propels him on a journey of discovery deep into his...

At a family reunion, Special Agent Pendergast is finally overcoming the loss of his wife, who was mauled to death by a lion during an African safari. However, when Pendergast discovers that his wife's rifle was intentionally loaded with blanks, he is forced to reopen old wounds in an effort to locate those responsible for the violent killing.