When an Orthodox Jewish man is found shot to death in Montreal, Temperance Brennan is called in to examine the body and to figure out the puzzling damage to the corpse. Unexpectedly, a stranger slips her a photograph of a skeleton and assures her it is the key to the victim's death. As Tempe investigates, she learns that the stranger's picture shows bones uncovered during an archaeological dig. She discovers the Montreal shooting victim ran an import business that just might have been a front for illegal antiquities trading. Along with Detective Andrew Ryan and biblical archaeologist Jake Drum, Tempe travels to Israel and makes a startling discovery that raises radical questions about Christ's death.