"On the far shore, down by the waterline, something was moving. In the twilight it was too difficult to make out what it was but she heard a hideous heavy slithering and the slightest splash..." Danish Detective Birgitte Vestergaard is sent to Sydney, Australia to assist in the search for a high-profile missing Dane. When his remains are found in a dry creek bed south of Alice Springs, locals suspect he could be the hapless victim of wild animals. Birgitte is certain it is the work of something far more sinister. Birgitte's intuition and tenacity draw her into the ethically murky world of international corporate mining, and headlong into the path of a willing executioner. By the time she learns the truth about the killings, her own life is in immediate danger.