Her body floats. A bloated thing half atop the river. Naked. Pale. Mouth and eyes open wide. When two fishermen discover a corpse floating in the Clackamas river, profiler Violet Darger heads to rural Oregon to hunt another serial killer. What she discovers in the woods might change the course of her life. What secrets does the water conceal? The girl in the water marks the third such case in the area -- all drowned with superficial stab wounds and discovered in a body of water -- and Darger feels certain she won't be the last. The corpses are badly decomposed. The flesh purpled and softened from their time in the water. The forensic evidence distorted by decay and the elements. But the victims share one more thing in common -- all were discovered roughly five days post mortem. A coincidence? Something with meaning to be discerned? Darger suspects the timeline to be significant, but without evidence, she can only guess as to why. That sets up what might be the key to the case: What is the killer doing to the victims for the four days between their deaths and dumping their bodies? It's Darger's first case without Loshak, and it will test her like none before.