When working a night shift at Manchester's inner-city morgue, forensic pathologist Karen Laos finds herself with the body of an unknown male, apparently murdered by a killer she had pursued six years before. She reunites with ageing policeman DI James Nakonski and the two of them must identify, locate and catch the killer taunting them both. With an appetite for ritualistic murder and an array of alarming and unusual methods, there is a very real threat that this killer will elude their grasp and strike again, leaving only mutilated victims in his wake.