A mysterious package arrives for Robin Ellacott, who is horrified to find a woman's leg inside. Her boss, private detective Cormoran Strike, is less surprised. There are four people from his past who might be capable of such brutality, and with the police focusing on one of them, Strike and Robin delve into the twisted worlds of the other three. But in this third outing (after The Silkworm) by J.K. Rowling—writing as Robert Galbraith—more horrendous acts occur, and time is running out for Strike and his partner.