Representing the system's most unsavory characters in his work as a criminal defense lawyer, jaded attorney Mickey Haller takes on his first high-paying and possibly innocent client in years, but finds the case complicated by sinister events that suggest the workings of a particularly evil perpetrator.

When Bibi Chen, the leader of a group of twelve American tourists, mysteriously dies while on an art expedition in the Himalayan foothills of China, the remainder of the group discover that the Burma Road is filled with danger and uncertainty.

Gathering to attend a wedding in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts, seven former classmates find the reunion marked by the death of a spouse, a traumatic past event, a shocking secret, and health issues.