In Gallup, New Mexico, where violent crime is five times the national average, a serial killer is operating unchecked, his targets indigent Natives whose murders are easily disguised as death by exposure on the frigid winter streets. He slips unnoticed through town, hidden in plain sight by his unassuming nature, while the voices in his head guide him toward a terrifying vision of glory. As the Gallup detectives struggle to put together pieces, they consider calling in a controversial specialist to help.

Meanwhile Albuquerque PD forensic photographer Rita Todacheene is at a crisis point in her career. Her colleagues are watching her with suspicion after the recent revelation that she can see the ghosts of murder victims. Her unmanageable caseload is further complicated by the fact that half the department has blacklisted her for ratting out a corrupt fellow cop. And back home in Tohatchi on the Navajo reservation, Rita's grandma is getting frail. Maybe it's time for her to leave policework behind entirely--if the ghosts will let her...