Shocked by her beloved grandmother's untimely death a day after she travels to New Delhi to have affordable hip-replacement surgery, fourth-year UCLA medical student Jennifer Hernandez heads to India for answers and uncovers a series of unexplained deaths, a finding that forces her to turn for assistance to her medical examiner mentor, Dr. Montgomery.

While true-crime afficionado Ellery and her twin brother are staying with their grandmother in a Vermont community known for murder, a new friend goes missing and Ellery may be next.

Eighteen-year-old Sawyer accepts her estranged grandmother's bribe to live with her for a year, participate in the debutante season and ball, and possibly meet the father she has never known.