Everett Larkin works for the Cold Case Squad: an elite—if understaffed and overworked—group of detectives who solve the forgotten deaths of New York City. Larkin is different from others, but his deduction skills are unmatched and his memory for minute details is unparalleled. So when a spring thunderstorm uproots a tree in Madison Square Park, unearthing a crate with human remains inside, the best Cold Case detective is assigned the job. And when a death mask, like those prominent during the Victorian era, is found with the body, Larkin requests assistance from the Forensic Artists Unit and receives it in the form of Detective Ira Doyle, his polar opposite in every way. Factual reasoning and facial reconstruction puts Larkin and Doyle on a trail of old homicide cases and a murderer obsessed with casting his victims’ likeness in death. Include some unapologetic flirting from Doyle, and this case just may end up killing Everett Larkin.

Detective Everett Larkin of New York City’s Cold Case Squad has been on medical leave since catching the serial killer responsible for the Death Mask Murders. But Larkin hasn’t forgotten the anonymously delivered letter, nor its suggestion, that another memento—another death—is waiting to be found. Summer brings the grisly discovery of skeletal remains deep in the subway system, but the circumstances resemble one of Larkin’s already open cases, so the elite detective resumes active duty. When a postmortem photograph, akin to those taken during the Victorian Era, is located at the scene, Larkin requests aid from the most qualified man he knows: Detective Ira Doyle of the Forensic Artists Unit. With an unsolved case that suffered from tunnel vision, and the deconstruction of death portraits, Larkin and Doyle are descending down a rabbit hole as complex as the tunnels beneath Manhattan. And if this investigation wasn’t enough, both detectives are struggling with how to address the growing intimacy between them, because sometimes, love is more grave than murder.

The Cold Case Squad of the NYPD is overworked, understaffed, but receiving great press due to star detective Everett Larkin. His uncanny memory and Holmesian-like skills of deduction have already led to the capture of one serial killer. Now he’s identified a second predator and brought an end to their twenty-plus year reign of terror. Routine construction at a Broadway souvenir shop leads to the discovery of a mummified woman in the wall. And when Larkin receives a mysterious VHS tape that same night, he knows it’s no coincidence. Expecting a Victorian mourning artifact to surface in this new mystery, Larkin wastes no time turning to boyfriend Ira Doyle of the Forensic Artists Unit for help. A web of nameless victims, countless suspects, and endless lies drag Larkin and Doyle deep into the gritty past of Times Square, reopening painful wounds and testing the fortitude of their relationship. And all the while, someone is watching, biding their time until they can make Everett Larkin nothing… but a memory.

The Cold Case Squad has a problem: someone won’t stop taunting Detective Everett Larkin. He’s been able to apprehend some of the worst criminals to ever stalk the streets of New York City, thanks in great part to forensic artist and boyfriend, Ira Doyle, but after their last case, events have taken a turn for the worse. A body recovered from the Hudson River bears a message addressed to Larkin, as well as another token from Victorian mourning culture. And as nineteenth century hair jewelry leads Larkin deeper into the growing tangle of interconnected crimes, it becomes evident that solving these mysteries will come at a profound cost. To be a good detective, Larkin will have to put his relationship on the line by revisiting the past and enduring sleepless nights—lest the sender act on their threat against Doyle. What began as a game of cat and mouse has turned into a fight for love and life itself.