It's New Year's Eve, and the final murder scene of Virginia's bloodiest year since the Civil War takes Scarpetta thirty feet below the Elizabeth River's icy surface Scuba diver, Ted Eddings, an investigative reporter who was a favourite at the Medical Examiner's office is dead Was Eddings probing the frigid depths of the Inactive Shipyard for a story, or simply diving for sunken trinkets? And why did Scarpetta receive a 'phone call from someone reporting the death before the police were notified?