71 pages • 2 hours read •
Terry HayesA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Background
Part 1, Chapters 1-8
Part 1, Chapters 9-14
Part 2, Chapters 1-7
Part 2, Chapters 8-13
Part 2, Chapters 14-23
Part 2, Chapters 24-28
Part 2, Chapters 29-41
Part 2, Chapters 42-51
Part 3, Chapters 1-12
Part 3, Chapters 13-24
Part 3, Chapters 25-37
Part 3, Chapters 38-51
Part 3, Chapters 52-61
Part 3, Chapters 62-72
Part 4, Chapters 1-13
Part 4, Chapters 14-27
Part 4, Chapters 28-39
Part 4, Chapters 40-52
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Scott Murdoch describes an unforgettable day. While living in New York City, he arrives at a crime scene in a rundown motel. The corpse cannot be identified because her face and hands have been dissolved in acid solution. The unnamed victim died during sex, and Murdoch finds evidence of drug paraphernalia. He imagines the scene in lurid detail and says that the hotel is “home to […] anybody else with twenty bucks a night” (5). Based on the scene, Murdoch thinks the killer is familiar with his book on forensics and crime.
Murdoch is greeted by his colleague, homicide detective Ben Bradley, and tells him that the killer was almost certainly a woman. The other detectives report that she almost always wears elaborate disguises, changing them daily. Bradley shows Murdoch that the killer removed all of the victim’s teeth to prevent any identification.
The forensics team finds a blockage in the hotel’s plumbing system, recovering some papers the killer hoped to conceal. Murdoch guesses that the numbers on one may be a foreign phone number and confirms the area code for a Turkish town called Bodrum—a place he thinks of with dread. Bradley informs him that the killer checked out Murdoch’s book and says sardonically, “I just want to say thanks—now I’ve got to chase you-by-proxy.