In a world where the dead can testify against the living, someone is getting away with murder.

To every generation a select few souls are born with violet-coloured eyes - and the ability to channel the dead. Both rare and precious, and rigidly controlled by a society that craves their services, these Violets perform a number of different social duties.

But now the Violets themselves have become the target of a brutal serial murderer - a murderer who has learned how to mask his or her identity even from the victims. Can FBI agent Dan Atwater, aided by Violet Natalie Lindstrom, uncover the criminal in time? Or will more of Natalie''s race be dispatched to the realm that has haunted them all since childhood?