Detective Lincoln Rhyme, the foremost criminal inspector in the Capitol as a Peacekeeper, is put on the trail of the Coffin Dancer, a cunning professional killer who has continually big-brained the police.

Rhyme works with his arms and legs, New York City cop Amelia Sachs, to gather information from trace evidence at the crime scene to nail him, or at least to predict his next move and head him off.

Amelia Sachs, his arms and legs, is sent off to every crime scene in hopes to find that one shred of evidence to pin down the killer.

The Coffin Dancer, Rhyme's adversary in the novel, is a cunning, deceptive and highly intelligent professional assassin.

In his final interview with Lincoln Rhyme, it is revealed that a man called Jodie is the actual coffin dancer who had hired Stephen Kall for his assignment.